


Jewel In The Palace

by arcee_bee



Category: Super Junior
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, M/M, Sexual Slavery, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26575588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcee_bee/pseuds/arcee_bee
Summary: The story of Emperor Donghae and his slave, Eunhyuk... and the pet tiger Bada.
Relationships: Lee Donghae/Lee Hyukjae | Eunhyuk
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	1. 0: SLAVE MARKET

0: SLAVE MARKET

”This is the slave market, Your Highness, the citizens in this area don’t have enough helpers to do their daily chores and producing goods, so they keep slaves captured by the pirates to run the economics”, his General, Kyuhyun, motioned to the men and women on the wooden crates.

As the only surviving son of the Emperor meant Donghae was to be the next Emperor over his country. He fought hard to keep the whole country under his command, unlike his father who softened a lot and caused many rebellions and corruptions.

Donghae was only nineteen when his father died, but he knew what he wanted and soon his army doubled in size, he used his power to take control over the outer tribes, attacking smaller countries around his own and widened his land. The Empire was stronger than ever.

Five years after he was crowned as the Emperor, Donghae’s army conquered the islands on the Southern border. Pirates colonized the islands, spreading terrors on the inhabitants, the rich people living on the coasts turned a blind eye over the injustice and sufferings, in exchange of luxurious lives and riches brought by the pirates.

Donghae’s army wiped out the pirates and installed new government officials covering the area, setting new rules and regulations, now the islands were part of his Empire. He chased the pirates and sank many pirates ships, giving harsh executions to the pirates caught, setting his authority over the area.

The Emperor looked around, slavery was uncommon in the mainland, he would have to discuss the issue with his advisors later. As for now, he decided to get a good look at the custom.

“What is that?” Donghae pointed at another crate in the corner, it was almost empty, the content only consisted of a person, curling on the dusty floor, completely oblivious to the surrounding.

Kyuhyun asked the slave trader about the crate and explained to his Emperor, “Don’t bother about that crate Your Majesty, it’s just some left over slave from the market.”

Ignoring his general, Donghae came closer to the crate and saw the person laying on the bottom of the crate. It was a young male, but it was a bit hard to determine that by just looking at his face.

The man was almost too feminine to be male but lacking the curves of a woman. He was laying in fetal position, a long wound tore the skin on his right thigh, the skin around the bloody wound started to blackened and he was obviously in pain.

The slave’s eyes were closed, he was shaking in fever probably due to the infection. Dirt smudged his face and body, his dark hair was messy and tangled, but something intrigued the Emperor about the slave. He found himself taken by the slave with a strange feeling.

The slave trader mentioned something the slave as, “... too weak, not good with household chores ... too clumsy, but not strong enough for farm work ... ugly and too awkward as sex slave ... not making any money out of him ...”

“Take him, I want him alive”, Donghae told Kyuhyun, “Give the dealer some gold”.

The next thing heard was a scream of agony as the man forced the sick slave to get up, two guards dragged the emaciated body to a carriage. The emperor’s words were to be obeyed, not questioned.

Gold coins exchanged hands, but before the trader tried to sell more slaves to the young Emperor, Donghae already left.


	2. 1- SLAVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story about the Emperor Donghae and his slave, Eunhyuk.

1\. SLAVE

Two days later, the slave woke up in a strange room, lavishly decorated with white and blue silk, he was warm under the thick covers and the bed was so soft, never in his poor life he felt such luxury.

The bed he was in was moving gently, looking out of the window, the slave realized that he was in a ship.

The most lavish ship that he’d never thought existed.

Then he saw a man he never knew before, sitting on a chair, on the side of the bed, watching him intently.

Was that his new master?

He tried to move, but pain shot from his wound. It was now tightly bandaged, at least now he knew that he was still alive ... He really had no idea what to do, the stranger was staring at him quietly, and then he realized that a strange big orange cat was sitting by the man’s foot. It had striped body and powerful paws, the majestic animal was staring at him with golden eyes.

His new master said something, he couldn’t understand, this must be the mainland accent, he thought. He could only understand a few words, like new master, rest, and did the man just asked for his name?

The man touched his cheek, he flinched as he was not used to gentleness, but it was so much different than the rough treatment his old master and the slave traders used to give him.

As he remembered his position as a slave, he began to panic, a slave was not supposed to lay on a bed, a slave was supposed to pay respect to its master, he would surely earn his new master’s anger!

Afraid that his new master would get upset at him, the slave answered, “HyukJae, my name is HyukJae master”, he lowered his gaze. He tried to untangle himself from the blankets clumsily, but the man stopped his movement with a firm push against his chest.

His new master smiled, the smile was the closest thing close to kindness Hyukjae had ever experienced, he said something HyukJae could barely understand. His tone soothing and calm, Hyukjae could only hope that his new master was not angry with him.

HyukJae kept his head bowed, he was confused, his head throbbing and the pain coming from his wound returned.

Fingers tilted his face up and he saw his new master’s face, dark eyes piercing into his own. When he tried to move his face away, the fingers holding his face refused to let him go.

“You are EunHyuk, my jewel”, the new master finally said in a tongue he understood, “I am your new master, you only answer to me, now you must heal first.”

Hyukjae had so many questions about his new life, but his head throbbed. His new master made him lay on the soft bed, before leaving him alone in the room. The strange large cat left with his new master, glancing at Hyukjae as they left the room.

A few moments later, a servant came with a bowl of soup and warm tea. Hyukjae almost cried at the taste of food in his mouth, how long had he been without food? And before that, the food he had was mostly stale and tasteless. His hands were trembling as he held the bowl and tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

The servant called him Eunhyuk … of course, that was what his new master named him.

She smiled and took the bowl from Hyukjae’s hands, she took the spoon and gently fed Hyukjae.

Hyukjae didn’t understand the words spoken to him, after he was finished eating, she wiped his mouth and offered him the tea. It was bitter, but Hyukjae finished it, he was drowsy after he drank the tea and quickly fell asleep.

Three days later they arrived in the mainland, and Hyukjae was shocked to find out that his master was the Emperor himself.  
*  
When he first arrived, most people at Donghae’s court thought of him as nothing more but a new toy the Emperor brought home. Even the Queen did not bother to acknowledge him.

Never in his wildest dreams, Hyukjae thought he’d step a foot in a palace like this. He was just a commoner, born in a poor fishing village on one of the remote islands at the edge of the Empire.

He came from an entertainer family, the lowest on the social strata of his village, his mother and sisters were dancers while his father was a fisherman. When pirates attacked their village, he was taken and sold to slavery. He never knew what happened to his family.

The island he came from had different language, his captors and his first master didn’t even bother to teach him the language, they expected obedience from him but how was he supposed to know that when he barely understood the command?

That was how he ended up back at the market after his first master gave him a severe punishment for escaping, despite his explanations that he was not even trying to run away.

The moment he arrived at the palace, Hyukjae was placed in a lavish room, not even his past master had such luxury. Three times a day, food would be delivered for him, all tasted heavenly like he’d never tasted before in his life. Chicken roasted with honey, beef marinated with exotic spices, fish and sea food so fresh he could still feel their sweetness, colorful vegetables and fruits Hyukjae had never seen before … every meal was a surprise for him.

Every afternoon, servants would come and helped him with bath. Completely opposite to the cold murky water he had since his captivity, now he had warm bath with flowery soap. The servants brushed his hair until it shone, trimmed his nails, put scented oil on his skin.

At night, the Emperor visited him, despite his busy schedule, Donghae always made sure to see his pet. He would teach Hyukjae his language, he would touch Hyukjae gently, played with Hyukjae’s hair, and when Hyukjae had learned new words or put a complete sentence correctly, he would give Hyukjae a kiss.

Hyukjae liked the touches and attentions his new master gave him. He liked it when his master laughed, although he didn’t fully understand the words his master told him, he loved the kind tone of his master.

After a few weeks, Hyukjae slowly could see the changes in him. His body filled out nicely, he had always been lanky, but now he looked healthier and his skin was lighter and softer. The wound on his thigh had healed completely, leaving a long scar, a reminder of his past.

His hair was no longer dirty and unkempt, a healthy blush decorated his cheeks and for once since his capture, he was happy and content.

He was still unsure of what his master wanted him to do, he was not made to work and the nights when the Emperor visited, he was not forced to do the things pleasure slaves had to do.

One night, after Hyukjae’s third months in the Palace, the Emperor came to his room. He made Hyukjae recited the words he learned, the longer the sentence, the longer the kiss he received.

Hyukjae’s lips tingled after the kisses, his cheeks blushed deeper, his heart beat faster. He touched his lips after his master’s last kiss with shaky finger.

“Do you want me to stop?” his master asked.

Hyukjae shook his head, “No, I want more”.

The Emperor smiled, “Are you giving me order, Eunhyuk?”

Hyukjae’s eyes widened, did he just make a mistake? He looked down, gripping the material of his shirt nervously.

Before he could ask for his master’s forgiveness, the Emperor kissed him again. This time deeper, he licked Hyukjae’s lower lip, patiently coaxing the slave to open his mouth.

Hyukjae let his master’s tongue played with his own, he didn’t know what to do at first, but with mild persuasion, his tongue soon joined his master’s as their kiss deepened.

The sight that greeted him when Donghae pulled away from the kiss was priceless, Eunhyuk’s eyes were dazed and his luscious lips pink and swollen. He touched the sweet lips with his finger and gave his slave a small kiss, before trailing more kisses down Eunhyuk’s neck.

Eunhyuk gasped deliciously as Donghae seduced his body with kisses and touches, it was evident to the Emperor that his slave was untouched. Donghae laid him on the bed and unbuttoned the loose shirt Eunhyuk was wearing. His new life proved to be good to Eunhyuk, his body was no longer bony and malnourished, his skin soft and living inside for weeks made his skin lost its tan.

As Eunhyuk’s clothes were completely off, Donghae caught the worried look on his slave’s face. Eunhyuk was biting his lower lip, hands kneading the sheets nervously as he kept his legs closed.

He was afraid of what would happen next.

But also afraid to disappoint his master.

“Are you afraid, my sweet?” Donghae raised Eunhyuk’s face so their eyes would meet.

“I want to please you, master”, Eunhyuk said despite the fear and uncertainty in his eyes.

“Don’t be afraid, I’ll be gentle with you”, Donghae said.

He then realized that Eunhyuk’s understanding of the language was still very few, and Donghae didn’t remember teaching Eunhyuk those words.

Instead of explaining, Donghae decided to use action to show what he meant. Gently, he placed Eunhyuk’s hands on the sheets, unfurling his clutching fingers, he kissed them one by one to ease the nervousness inside his slave.

He pulled Eunhyuk’s legs, caressing the coltish limbs as he placed them on the bed, he scattered kisses from Eunhyuk’s calf up to the marred thigh and to the spot where Eunhyuk’s legs connected to his body.

The view Eunhyuk painted for his master was more beautiful and stunning than any artists ever made. The young man was blushing hard, not trusting himself with the sound he’d make, he put his hand to cover his mouth. His legs were shaking with the alien pleasure he was feeling and yet, his manhood was erect, with clear fluid spilling from the tip.

“Not like that”, Donghae removed Eunhyuk’s hand from his mouth, “I want to hear you, don’t cover your mouth”.

“… no?” Eunhyuk was at loss.

“You can make any sound you want, don’t hold them”.

Donghae was grateful that Eunhyuk understood his command, Eunhyuk’s first moan was sweet and soft, but as Donghae put his marks all over Eunhyuk’s torso, he moaned and panted beautifully. When Donghae played with Eunhyuk’s member, the moans turned into sharp gasp.

“Ah … ahhnngg … Master …”

Knowing that his slave was close to orgasm, Donghae pressed the tip of Eunhyuk’s weeping arousal, successfully blocked his pleasure.

“Ah …! Please master!” Eunhyuk raised his hip, trying to reach his pleasure.

Donghae stopped Eunhyuk’s movement by pressing a hand on Eunhyuk’s hip. The slave quickly stopped moving. Biting his lip nervously as his glassy eyes looking at his master. Donghae decided that at the moment, he had fallen deeper for his slave.

Using the oil from the pot placed on the side table, Donghae touched Eunhyuk’s entrance, Eunhyuk’s reaction only added the proof that he was untouched.

Hyukjae did not know what to do, he didn’t know what was happening, should he lay down and let his master does everything? Should he do something? His fingers gripped the sheets nervously, his master fingers were greeting the part of him that had never been touched by others before.

Eventually a finger entered his tight opening, Hyukjae flinched and tensed, with his master’s gentle words coaxing him, slowly he began to loosen up. As more fingers entered him, strange sensations creeping up his senses.

A soft moan escaped his lips as his sensitive nerves were tingling and suddenly he felt an itch on places he never knew existed.

The fingers were removed, leaving Hyukjae feeling empty, then his master teased his oiled opening with something larger. Hyukjae opened his eyes just in time as his master pushed his engorged arousal into him.

Despite the preparations and oils, Hyukjae screamed when his master penetrated his virginal hole. He was worried that his master would be mad at him but instead of being angry, his master whispered words in his ears, he didn’t understand all of them although they helped him to accept the intrusion.

His master was large, the pain made some tears escaped his eyes. Slowly, as his master moved, the pain subsided. At one point, he hit something inside Hyukjae, making the slave cried out in pleasure.

The strange ticklish feeling returned, his lower stomach was starting to feel funny, like strange warmth coiling inside him and his member wouldn’t stop dribbling clear liquid. Hyukjae began to move his body against his master, trying to chase the pleasure teasing his body.

“Ah … ah … Master … Nggggh …” Hyukjae wrapped his limbs around his master’s muscled body, his own slim body arched up, trying to take his master’s manhood deeper into him and waves of pleasures crashed into his body.

His master gave several deep thrusts before he too, followed Hyukjae into his own bliss, spilling hot seed inside Hyukjae.

Hyukjae’s eyes were threatening to close, he seemed to lose all strength. His master pulled away from his abused entrance, a trickle of warmth escaped from his numb opening.

Hyukjae’s mind told him that he should do something, but he had no idea what to do. Should he thank his master for using his body? Should he clean up?

Before his mind came up with an answer, his master placed kisses on his eyelids and lips, urging him to rest.  
*  
Hyukjae woke up with his master’s arm crapped around his thin body. It was past midnight already.

The sheets only covered their lower half and Hyukjae could feel the Emperor’s eyes on him. Hyukjae suddenly felt shy when he realized that his master’s eyes were on his nude body while he was asleep.

The Emperor kissed his neck, making sure to leave a mark, trailing more hot kisses to his ear, fingers roaming on his soft skin, tickling his sensitive spots.

“Let’s do it one more time”, his master rasped on his ear, and Hyukjae found him self harden at the offer.  
*  
Donghae watched his slave catching his breath as they finished their love making. Despite his numerous lovers, Eunhyuk intrigued him the most. How did a young man could be so sweet and innocent, but extremely sensual at the same time?

Eunhyuk was unlike anyone he’d met in his life, there were lines of men and women who shared his bed but none of them came close to Eunhyuk.

The slave had simple mind, he was so easily amused, unlike the opportunistic nobles who faked their beauty, Eunhyuk was pure and honest. All he wanted to do was to please his master.

Eunhyuk snuggled closer to him, Donghae smiled at the innocent display. He kissed Eunhyuk’s forehead.

He knew he had to go, Donghae gave his slave another loving gaze, before getting his clothes back on. Usually he’d demand his lover to see him leave, but for the first time in his life, the Emperor didn’t want to disturb his sleeping slave.

“Wait for me, Eunhyuk”, he pulled the sheet to cover Eunhyuk’s naked body.  
*  
Hyukjae remembered falling asleep in his master’s arms, but the bed was empty when he woke up. The spot next to him was cold. When he stretched and sat up, he could feel pain shot from his lower back. Remembering what they did last night, he blushed.

The faint knock on the door announced the arrival of his breakfast, Hyukjae limped his way around to get dressed, he just put on a loose shirt when the servants arrived.

The two servants hid their amused smile at the sight of their charge blushing, clutching the hem of the unbuttoned shirt, purplish marks littered his neck and exposed shoulder. It was clear what had happened last night.

“Would you like to have your breakfast or get cleaned up first?” one of them offered.

“Uh … yes … I will clean up …” Hyukjae stuttered.

Although the servants had been helping him with his bath before, this time a sense of embarrassment made Hyukjae wished they’d just leave him alone. The two women didn’t leave him of course, they chuckled at his shyness and helped him to take clean up, trying to ignore the marks the Emperor left on his body.

They massaged Lavender oil into his skin, fussing on how the Emperor left so many marks on Hyukjae’s smooth skin. The comments only made Hyukjae blushed harder.

After they helped him to dress, Hyukjae returned to his room, only to find a middle aged woman sat on the chair, waiting for him.

“Hello Eunhyuk, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you”, she gave a warm smile, “Come, your breakfast is waiting”.

Hyukjae was still stunned at the sight of the woman, this was the only contact he had with another person since his arrival on the Palace, apart from the maid servants and his Master, of course.

Sensing the young man’s confusion, the woman chuckled, “I’m sorry, I should have introduced myself properly … My name is Lady Cho, I am a Governess, His Majesty sent me to teach you … come, sit down … I won’t bite”.

TBC


	3. 2 - CONCUBINE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “… Your Majesty, there’s a concern from Minister Kim about the treatment of your slave… it seems improper for a slave to occupy a Royal Apartment as grand as the Royal Consort’s residence …”
> 
> Donghae looked up from the document he was reading. His sharp gaze shut the old man’s mouth instantly.
> 
> “I don’t remember that the treatment of my slave’s is a concern of a Minister”, Donghae replied, his tone calm but icy.

The Daegu Brotherhood was led by several warlords, The Royal Army had battled them several times. Even after five or more of their leaders were executed, they kept coming back. This time, they attacked the western part of the capital city, they never attacked so close to the capital city before. Perhaps they had grown bolder as they became more confident with their number.

Donghae’s army attacked early in the morning, as predicted, the Brotherhood did not show a significant number of army in the beginning, their strength was in dragging the battle to last longer, in hopes that the Royal Army got tired and discouraged as time goes by.

After the sixth day, the Royal Army managed to attack the center of the rebels, they won the fight with not much resistance. 

“My men witnessed a group of rebels riding fast just before we attacked, Sire”, Kyuhyun reported, “They seem to be targeting the Palace”.

“I’m going back, arrange two groups of cavalries to come with me, the rest should stay and secure the area”, Donghae instructed.

Riding fast, Donghae and his guards arrived at the palace before the sunset. The moment Donghae arrived at the Palace, he commanded the security to be doubled, all guards were to report to their Captains.

It didn’t take long until one of the Captains reported, “Your Majesty, we found two guards on the South Gate dead, the rebels seemed to be entering the Palace through the South Wing”.

The news hit Donghae like a thunder. Eunhyuk’s room was on the South Wing!

“… we have informed the guards to secure the Queen and her Ladies-in-waiting …”

“You … Both of you! Come with me”, Donghae cut the information, calling two soldiers to follow him.

Ignoring the Captain of the Guards, Donghae ran to the South Wing. He didn’t care anymore about his royal wife, all his thoughts were on Eunhyuk.

A commotion was heard from the outside, the Palace Guards had found some intruders on the balconies and started to shoot. 

Donghae pushed Eunhyuk’s door open and found a raider attacking his slave, Eunhyuk was not a fighter, he fell to the floor, clutching his stomach. The raider was ready to give a final blow, it was the exact time when the Emperor entered the room.

Donghae saw red, he unsheathed his sword and in no time, he killed the raider.

“Call a healer! Now!” the Emperor barked a command to the soldiers.

Eunhyuk was conscious when Donghae took him in his arms. He grimaced at the pain, but his face lit up when he saw his master.

“Your Majesty …” he gasped, face pale from the pain.

“You’ll be alright Eunhyuk”, Donghae said, despite the numerous battles he’d fought, the sight of Eunhyuk bleeding worried him.  
*  
“… Your Majesty, there’s a concern from Minister Kim about the treatment of your slave… it seems improper for a slave to occupy a Royal Apartment as grand as the Royal Consort’s residence …”

Donghae looked up from the document he was reading. His sharp gaze shut the old man’s mouth instantly.

“I don’t remember that the treatment of my slave’s is a concern of a Minister”, Donghae replied, his tone calm but icy.

The Counselor quickly shut his mouth, it was not wise to anger his Emperor.

“Tell Minister Kim to worry about my slave’s housing when he has performed his job feeding every single one of my subjects”.

Donghae was sure his wife had heard about Eunhyuk by now, he hadn’t touched her for months now and he couldn’t even remember the last civil conversation they had. 

Donghae’s marriage was arranged even before his birth, as a way to tie the richest merchant family in the Empire, the late Emperor promised to have their daughter married to the future Emperor. So when Donghae turned 19, just a few days before he was crowned as the new Emperor, he found himself married to Yoona. 

Yoona was an ambitious woman, she wanted power and glory for her family. She meddled with court decisions, placing her favorite officials on strategic positions and tried to get rid of the counselors and ministers she didn’t like.

Of course it didn’t go well with Donghae’s plans, He had done all he could to limit Yoona’s movements, but even with less authority, she kept causing troubles, like promoting her uncle, as a minister. Everybody in the court knew Minister Kim was there to cater Yoona and her family’s needs.

Dealing with her already made his head ache, Donghae stood up from his seat. He would have to think of a way to get rid of her later. He called out for his pet, Bada. The tiger followed him as he walked through the corridors of the Palace. 

A maid servant just left Eunhyuk’s room when Donghae arrived at the door. She bowed at the sight of the Emperor, Donghae dismissed her and went into the room quietly.

Eunhyuk was sitting on his bed, playing with a small wooden toy, roughly chiseled to shape like a tiger. When he saw Donghae coming, his face brightened.

“Your Majesty”, he smiled, showing his adorable gummy smile.

“Hello Eunhyuk”, Donghae sat next to his slave on the bed, Bada came closer and sniffed Eunhyuk. The young man was startled when he saw the tiger, it took a while to get used to the large beast, Donghae wouldn’t blame Eunhyuk to flinch.

“How do you feel, my sweet?” Donghae asked.

“I feel better Sire”, Eunhyuk replied, his words were much more refined, even after just a week study with Lady Cho.

“How do you like your lessons with Lady Cho?” 

Gathering Eunhyuk in his arms, the slave stiffened a little, not knowing what to expect, Donghae touched Eunhyuk gingerly, careful not to put a strain on Eunhyuk’s wound.

“I like her, she teaches me a lot of new things”, Eunhyuk said.

“Did she give you that?” Donghae pointed at the wooden tiger.

“Uhm”, Eunhyuk nodded with a gummy smile.

Bada jumped to join them on the bed, he decided he wanted to know Eunhyuk better, he laid his muscled body on the foot of the bed but placed his head on Eunhyuk’s lap.

Eunhyuk winced a little, the tiger’s heavy head must be pressing on his wound. Donghae pushed his pet’s head a little, nudging Bada to lie properly. 

“Lady Cho was my Governess when I was little”, Donghae explained, “Her son, Kyuhyun, is my best friend, she is a kind woman and a wonderful teacher”.

“And this …” Donghae plucked the wooden tiger from Eunhyuk’s hand, “I made this when I was young …”

“You’re still young now … Your Majesty”, Eunhyuk intercepted with a giggle.

Donghae laughed at the comment, “Well I was so much younger back then when I made this”, he traced his fingers on the rough wood, “Do you know what this is?”

Eunhyuk nodded, “A cat”, he answered confidently.

“A cat?” Donghae was amused at the answer.

“We had cats in our village back then … but your cat is much bigger”, Eunhyuk motioned at Bada, who looked up and stared at Eunhyuk as if he took offense of what Eunhyuk was saying. 

Donghae chuckled and kissed Eunhyuk lightly, “Bada is not a cat … He’s a tiger”. He took Eunhyuk’s hand for Bada to sniff, the tiger decided that he liked Eunhyuk and rubbed his head against Eunhyuk’s palm. Eunhyuk smiled a little at the reaction, he stroke Bada’s head as he would rub a cat.

“Tigers are strong and fierce, they are the strongest animal and very smart, they are called as the king of the jungle”, Donghae continued.

“Like you?” the young man’s eyes widened excitedly.

“Yes … like me”.

Eunhyuk giggled as Donghae kissed his neck, they cuddled together on the bed, with Bada occasionally pawed at them.   
*  
Born in an island in the middle of the sea, Hyukjae never experienced winter, but as months passed while he was in the Palace, slowly the weather was changing. One morning Hyukjae woke up and found that the day was much colder and windy than usual. 

“Winter is coming”, Lady Cho explained to him later that day, “Soon there will be snow outside”.

The idea of snow was unknown to him, Lady Cho showed him pictures and made him read about snow. He could read longer sentences now, he understood more words and could write, things he never thought he would do before. His old life at the fishing village was far behind him by now.

After studying with Lady Cho the whole morning, Bada’s handler would send the tiger back to Hyukjae’s room in the afternoon.

Hyukjae was getting used to the tiger’s presence, he didn’t think Bada was much different than the cats in his village. Although everybody in the palace treated the beast with caution, Hyukjae treated him like a cat and Bada seemed to like it.

Bada decided that he hated it when Hyukjae’s attention was not on him, like today, he pounced on Hyukjae and rubbed his large head against Hyukjae’s face. The book Lady Cho told him to read fell to the floor.

“Ah! Bada! What are you doing!” Hyukjae giggled, they wrestled on the bed playfully, rolling to one side and another, pulling the sheets and kicking the pillows to the floor. They only stopped as Hyukjae was out of breath, he sat on the edge of the bed.

“Look what have you done”, Hyukjae pouted, he pulled the shirt he was wearing, it was losing two buttons and the collar was torn. Bada was prepared to pounce again, so Hyukjae threw him a ball, he chased the ball and played with it instead as Hyukjae gathered the book from the floor.

A faint knock was heard from the door, it wasn’t even dinnertime yet, usually the maidservants taking care of Hyukjae would come to deliver his dinner later after the sun had set.

When Hyukjae opened the door, he saw a woman she had never seen before standing with a tray, a bottle and a glass were on the tray.

She didn’t look like a maidservant to him, she wore a beautiful blue dress, like what Lady Cho used to wear, her hair was styled more elaborately than Lady Cho. She looked very beautiful.

“Are you Eunhyuk?” she asked, Hyukjae nodded as his answer, “This is wine from His Majesty, may I serve it for you?”

Hyukjae thanked her, although the request was slightly strange to him, he let the lady in to his room. The moment the lady entered, Bada stopped playing with his ball, his eyes watched the lady intently.

As the lady poured the wine to a glass, Bada jumped to strike her. The bottle and the glass fell to the floor as the lady gave a shriek of terror. The tiger didn’t get her the first time, Hyukjae quickly caught Bada’s collar to stop the beast from attacking her.

“Bada! No!” this was the first time Hyukjae witnessed the big cat acted so wild. 

The lady ran from Hyukjae’s room, she was lucky that Hyukjae wouldn’t let go of Bada’s collar, despite the tiger struggled to break loose from his hold. He closed the door before Bada could chase the poor woman.

“That’s not nice, Bada”, Hyukjae sighed, the bottle was broken and the dark purple liquid was all over the floor along with pieces of glasses, “She must be scared to death!”

Bada sniffed the liquid and gave a huff, before tucking himself on Hyukjae’s bed, ignoring Hyukjae’s words.

Later that night, when his master came to visit him, Hyukjae told the Emperor about the incident. The Emperor’s jaw clenched as Hyukjae told him what happened, Hyukjae was worried that his master was angry at Bada.

“Please don’t be angry at Bada, Sire, it was my fault, I should’ve watched him more carefully”, he said mournfully.

“I wasn’t angry at you or Bada”, the Emperor replied, “He did the right thing”.

“Your Majesty …?” Hyukjae was not sure if he understood.  
*  
Donghae was angry when he heard from Eunhyuk about what happened earlier that day. He knew the lady was none other than Yoona’s closest lady in waiting, Sooyoung. 

It was too late to check if the wine was poisoned, but Donghae was sure that his wife wouldn’t send her best friend to gift her rival a bottle of wine. Luckily Bada was trained to sense danger and reacted accordingly.

“From now on you will keep Bada with you all the time”, Donghae told the younger man, “You’ll only eat and drink the food and drinks given by the people you know, do you understand?”

Donghae could see hesitation on Eunhyuk’s face, he must not fully grasped what Donghae wanted from him, but Eunhyuk nodded obediently.

“Now come here and give me a kiss”, Donghae demanded.

Slowly, Eunhyuk crawled to his master’s lap. The younger man was unsure at first, their lips met awkwardly, he could feel Eunhyuk’s heart beating faster nervously.

Donghae licked the slave’s lips teasingly, and with a sigh, the plump lips opened, granting the Emperor access. Their tongue met and Eunhyuk welcomed his master’s gentle intrusion. 

As Eunhyuk was lost in their kiss, Donghae placed Eunhyuk’s hands on his shoulders while he rubbed Eunhyuk’s back encouragingly. Eunhyuk’s warm mouth was sweet and addicting, his fingers clutched Donghae’s shoulders, tightening their hold as he enjoyed the kiss.

“Oww!” Eunhyuk was suddenly pulled away from the kiss, Donghae was surprised to find the tiger was pulling Eunhyuk by the back of his shirt.

Just like his master, Bada hated to be left alone. He rubbed his face against Eunhyuk’s body, as if asking for an apology for disturbing the kiss.

“We’ll play later … Bada!” Eunhyuk whined as the tiger pulled him again to leave Donghae’s lap, “Stop it! You’re going to ruin my shirt…!”

Too late, Donghae grinned as he heard the sound of Eunhyuk’s shirt was torn. Bada was treating Eunhyuk like his favorite toy … A toy he didn’t want to share even with his master. As much as Donghae appreciated his tiger for removing Eunhyuk’s clothing, he didn’t think he wanted Bada to play with Eunhyuk right now.

The Emperor urged Eunhyuk to the bed, making him lay on the center of the mattress, he pulled what was left of Eunhyuk’s torn shirt and threw it away. Eunhyuk’s cheeks blushed pink as he realized his master’s eyes on his body. Donghae then took the tiger by his collar and opened the bathroom door. He pushed the tiger into the bathroom and closed the door.

Bada, realizing what was going on, began to roar in protest.

“Quiet!” Donghae ordered sternly.

The tiger quickly stopped roaring.

When Donghae returned, he found Eunhyuk was half naked on the bed, he bit his lower lip nervously as he waited for his master. 

“Shall we continue?” Donghae smirked.

He joined Eunhyuk on the bed, kissing those sweet plump lips once again, this time he ended the kiss with a trail of little kisses down to Eunhyuk’s neck. Eunhyuk gasped and gave out a small moan as the Emperor gave kittenish licks on his smooth skin. Liking the sound his slave made, Donghae teased Eunhyuk more, giving little bites on Eunhyuk’s shoulders and planting light kisses on Eunhyuk’s rosy nipples.

His little attention to Eunhyuk’s nipples made little moans escaped Eunhyuk’s mouth. 

“Do you like that?” he asked the blushing young man.

Eunhyuk looked shy to answer the question, but he slowly nodded.

“I’ll make sure to give more attention there”, the Emperor smirked.

Donghae had many lovers in the past, all of them eager to please him, they all saw him as the Crowned Prince or the Emperor. Donghae never had the need to care for his lover’s pleasure, he just took and asked to be served. But not Eunhyuk, the slave was inexperienced, he had no idea about bed pleasures but his reactions were sweet and addicting.

“Mmmh…!” Eunhyuk’s back arched beautifully as his master licked his left nipple, the bud hardened quickly, just like its twin between Donghae’s fingers.

Something else was also hardening down there, Donghae lowered his slave’s pants and released Eunhyuk’s arousal. He massaged the organ lightly and Eunhyuk moaned again. 

Hastily, the Emperor removed his own clothes, he reached to the side table where a pot of oil was strategically placed. 

Being a selfish lover, Donghae never cared about preparing his past bed warmers. He expected them to prepare themselves before he came to fuck them, however with Eunhyuk, it was different. Preparing Eunhyuk was like opening a present, Eunhyuk’s body was always enticing to him.

“Mmm … S-sire …” Eunhyuk groaned as Donghae’s second finger breached his tight opening, “Ah-ahnn!” Eunhyuk’s toes curled as Donghae’s touch reached his pleasure spot.

“What is it? Are you hurt?” Donghae asked, Eunhyuk’s prostate was sensitive and he couldn’t help himself from teasing the slave.

“No … uh … pl-please … I don’t need …” Eunhyuk gasped as his master added another finger to stretch his channel, it hurt but it also made his body felt strange, “I don’t need … fingers … just … p-put it in”, he blushed an even darker shade of red.

“Of course you need to be stretched, my sweet”, Donghae kept fucking his sweet pet with his fingers, more clear liquid escaped Eunhyuk’s reddened organ, “It’ll be painful if I don’t”.

“B-but …” Eunhyuk let out a full blown moan as Donghae pressed harder into the spot that made him see stars, “I … ah … S-sire … I’m going to … going to come”.

“You are not allowed to come without my permission”, Donghae stated sternly, “Do you understand?”

“Y-yes … S-sire”.

Eunhyuk gasped harder as his master pushed into him. Donghae sheathed his member slowly into Eunhyuk, he waited a little to give Eunhyuk some time to adjust, before moving slowly to push himself deeper into Eunhyuk’s warmth.

Donghae continued to move slowly, deliberately dragging his member against Eunhyuk’s pleasure spot, using his length to rub Eunhyuk’s sensitive channel, sending his slave moaning and gasping sensually. 

Taking Eunhyuk’s lips into his, Donghae swallowed Eunhyuk’s cries of pleasures. When they parted, Eunhyuk’s lips were sinfully swollen, his eyes glassy, but more moans escaped his mouth as Donghae played with his weeping erection.

Eunhyuk bit his lower lip, trying to distract himself from the pleasure, he was told not to come without his master’s permission, his body was shaking every time his master’s fingers pressed against the tip of his hard member.

“Good boy Eunhyuk”, the Emperor took his slave’s legs and placed them around his body, “Now let’s do this properly”.

This time, Eunhyuk screamed. His master was fucking him fast and rough, making sure that with every push the special spot inside him was hit hard, sending unexplainable feelings all over Eunhyuk’s nerves. 

Donghae grunted and growled, Eunhyuk’s legs were wrapped tightly around his body, his organ grasped tightly by Eunhyuk’s hot insides, the voices Eunhyuk was making only made him wanted to fuck his slave harder and deeper.

He grasped Eunhyuk’s arousal in his hand, just a little touch was enough to send Eunhyuk into another series of moaning mess.

“Pl-please m-master … I-ah … I can’t …” Eunhyuk begged, his breath ragged.

“Come Eunhyuk!” Donghae told his slave.

Eunhyuk’s member twitched in his hand, Donghae only had to rub the heated organ twice when it spilled white seed all over Donghae’s hand. 

Donghae continued to fuck Eunhyuk all through his orgasm, with the way Eunhyuk’s passage massaging his arousal, it didn’t take long for the Emperor to spend himself inside his slave.

When Donghae untangled their bodies, Eunhyuk’s eyes were closed as he was still catching his breath. Donghae kissed Eunhyuk’s closed eyelids softly and laid next to his slave.

“Eunhyuk … what would you do if I set you free?” 

Eunhyuk opened his eyes, he winced a little as he tried to move to face his master.

“Set me free?” 

“Yes”.

To the Emperor’s surprise, the slave looked mournful.

“Are you not happy?” Donghae touched Eunhyuk’s cheek.

“You don’t want me anymore, Sire? Am I a bad slave?” his tone was small and insecure.

“When you’re no longer a slave, you’ll be a free man”, Donghae tried to explain.

Tears were streaming down Eunhyuk’s face by now, he shook his head, Donghae didn’t have the heart to see this, he held his slave and kissed Eunhyuk’s forehead, “Why do you want to stay as a slave?”

Eunhyuk wiped his tears, arranging his words for a moment, before finally answered, “I don’t have anywhere to go, I don’t have any family left, where would I go if you set me free?”

Donghae held the younger man, smiling reassuringly.

“When you’re a free man, you can decide what you want to do, you can stay with me for as long as you wish and I am no longer your master”.

Eunhyuk sniffed at the explanation. “And what would you be, Sire?”

Donghae kissed Eunhyuk’s lips, “Your lover”.

Eunhyuk was stunned at that, his eyes widened, he didn’t know what to say.

Donghae took the opportunity to leave the bed, he opened the bathroom door and released Bada back into the room.

Bada curled on Eunhyuk’s side and made a voice that sounded like a purr, Eunhyuk’s arm automatically petting the oversized cat. Donghae came back to the bed and laid on Eunhyuk’s other side, he hugged the smaller man.

“I would like it very much to be your lover, Your Majesty”, Eunhyuk said as he was embraced by Donghae’s strong arms.

TBC

Notes:   
I still can’t decide if this story is set in Korea or Europe, so I trust the readers to decide. At first I didn’t think that Bada the tiger is going to make much appearance, but somehow my fingers were typing Hyuk playing with kitty cat Bada and I can’t help to put more of him in the story. In my mind he’s a big fluffy tiger with big paws (perhaps like Jasmine’s Raja in Aladdin animation version). Hyuk will have a lot of fun with an oversized kitty cat to play with!


	4. 3- LOVER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more he learned and accepted his new life as Eunhyuk, the more his life as Hyukjae was forgotten. He was no longer the scrawny boy living in a fishing village far away from the Capital city, he was not the dirty and awkward slave boy anymore, he was Eunhyuk, the Emperor’s beloved jewel.

The weather turned colder by the day, and finally the harsh winter arrived. Being born in a warmer climate, the cold was a surprise to Eunhyuk. He missed the summer warmth and hated to be bundled in layers of warm clothes restraining his movement.

The Emperor left for a long military campaign in the middle of the winter to the Western border of the country. Although Eunhyuk had Bada and Lady Cho to accompany him, he still missed his royal lover when he was lying in bed at night. Bada was always snuggling with him in bed, but of course that was different than a lover.

Lady Cho always had new things for him to learn, one day Eunhyuk was reading about the Royal Family’s lineage or the natural science, the next day Lady Cho taught him about the Palace protocol, or table manners. With Lady Cho’s tuition, Eunhyuk learned so many new things. He could read thicker books and understood more complicated words,

The more he learned and accepted his new life as Eunhyuk, the more his life as Hyukjae was forgotten. He was no longer the scrawny boy living in a fishing village far away from the Capital city, he was not the dirty and awkward slave boy anymore, he was Eunhyuk, the Emperor’s beloved jewel.

As days passed, Eunhyuk missed his royal lover more. The Emperor sent him letters, they were all short and telling him how much the Emperor missed him, the Emperor didn’t say much about the battles, though. To Lady Cho’s insistence, Eunhyuk tried to write back. However, his letters seemed more like a child’s doodles, he was just not good at expressing his feelings on writing.

And one day, the Emperor stopped writing to him.

Eunhyuk was sad, he waited for weeks and still no letter from the Emperor. He heard from Lady Cho that the battle had escalated, the rebel’s army was larger than what they were expecting. She worried for her son who went to the front line with the Emperor.

The day after a long stormy night, Lady Cho asked Eunhyuk to go out and take a walk in the snow. Eunhyuk took the offer to help him to ease his mind. Bada followed them, walking calmly behind Eunhyuk like an obedient pet.

As usual, when Bada was around, mischief would follow. Eunhyuk was soon being tackled to the snow and wrestled by the tiger as soon as they were out in the garden. The thought of a peaceful morning stroll was quickly forgotten.

Lady Cho watched them playing in the snow with a smile on her face.

He didn’t feel it at first, but when he was back in his room, Eunhyuk was shivering in cold. Lady Cho asked the maids to prepare him a hot bath and warm soup, the next morning Eunhyuk woke up with a fever.

To make things worse, after the high fever was broken, Eunhyuk had a nasty cold that left his nose blocked and his throat sore. Since he was not used to cold climate, his body needed time to adjust, the Palace physician told him.

The physician prescribed him medicated tea, so bitter, it tasted unlike any tea he had before. He was told to rest and stay warm inside all the time. Bada made he followed the orders by curling around him protectively.

Eunhyuk was abruptly woken from his sleep one morning by the faint sound of trumpets and drums.

“You must be happy, Eunhyuk-ah … His Majesty has returned victoriously!” Yuri, one of the maids who took care of him said, as she delivered Eunhyuk’s breakfast.

Although the thoughts of meeting his royal lover was making him happy, Eunhyuk didn’t think the Emperor would be delighted to see him in such condition. His face was pale, his nose runny and his voice rough. Not to mention his red eyes. The Emperor always called him beautiful, but what if the Emperor was disgusted by the way he looked?

“C-could you … tell His Majesty not to see me?” Eunhyuk asked timidly.

“You don’t want to meet him?” Yuri frowned in confusion.

“Please don’t tell him that I’m sick … I feel ugly and dizzy the whole time, I don’t want him to be upset with me”, Eunhyuk explained.

“Alright”, Yuri smiled, “I’ll tell him that”.  
*  
Upon returning the The Capital, Donghae wanted nothing but to meet his Eunhyuk. The House of Kim was a wealthy family bordering with the neighboring country, they decided to take the opportunity to revolt to get their independency. The campaign was long and brutal, with many casualties on both sides. He wished he could just stay in bed with Eunhyuk and forget about all about the battles. But of course his life couldn’t be that simple.

As usual he was supposed to attend the formal welcoming ceremony, which included his wife, Queen Yoona, receiving his safe return. After months of long military campaign in the worst weather against the sneaky rebels, wouldn’t it be more delightful to have Eunhyuk to welcome him back?

Then he was expected at the Throne Room, meeting his Ministers and Counselors, preparing a new set of laws regarding the Western border and the clans who rebelled against the Empire.

It was past sunset when he was finally done with the whole festivities.

He was going to Eunhyuk’s room when he met Yuri, one of Eunhyuk’s chamber maid.

“Congratulations on your victory, Your Majesty”, she bowed, “If I may ask, do you wish to see Eunhyuk tonight?”

“Yes I am, I haven’t heard from him for a while”, Donghae answered.

Yuri looked troubled, but she braved herself and continued, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty, but Eunhyuk-ssi is not available tonight”.

For once, the Emperor was taken a back. Of course it would be easy for him to demand his concubine to see him this instance, but he decided to respect Eunhyuk’s wish. Yuri refused to tell him why Eunhyuk did not want to see him, she politely bowed and said that Eunhyuk would tell him the reason when the time was right.

So Donghae spent the day without seeing his concubine.

The night he spent alone was full of questions, why Eunhyuk refused to see him? Was he angry because of the lack of communication between them? Donghae tried to write in the beginning but as the war was getting more heated, it was hard to maintain correspondence.

Donghae glanced at the boxes of jewelries given by the House of Kim, as compensation of the war. Following customs, most of these should be given to the Queen. Donghae set his eyes on a particular necklace. It had simple design with diamonds and a large blue sapphire in the middle. It reminded him of Bada’s collar.

His Counselor told him that the jewel was known as the Blue Moon, one of the most precious jewels of the House of Kim.

Yoona wouldn’t miss a chance to claim the necklace. As always, she hoarded precious stones and drained the national treasury for her thirst of expensive jewelries.

Donghae imagined how the piece of jewelry would fit on Eunhyuk’s pale neck. His sweet Eunhyuk would look even more dazzling when the diamonds caught the light.

Maybe he should throw Eunhyuk a ball, Donghae thought. Dress him up in blue silk and diamonds, introduce him to the court, so they could see how beautiful the Emperor’s lover is.

But then it would be open war against Yoona. She wouldn’t accept Donghae’s lover and would find a way to destroy Eunhyuk.

Donghae took the necklace and kept it in its box. He brought it to his chamber. Yoona didn’t have to know about this particular necklace.

The next day, Eunhyuk still refused to see him. Donghae wanted to ask Lady Cho about Eunhyuk, but with Kyuhyun returning, she needed time to be with her son and Donghae didn’t want to disturb her.

On the third day, Donghae couldn’t wait anymore. After finishing the meeting with his ministers, he went to Eunhyuk’s room in the afternoon.

The door was unlocked and Eunhyuk’s chamber was too quiet when he entered. Winter was almost over, but the room was too warm. Bada was curling in bed, protecting a lump under the thick blankets, the tiger raised his head as he heard someone entering the room but quickly lowered his guard as he realized who it was.

Donghae pulled the blanket, revealing Eunhyuk’s sleeping face. His dark hair framing pale white face, with reddened nose and the way he breathe, the Emperor realized that his lover was sick.

“Silly boy …” he mumbled as he pushed strands of dark hair to reveal Eunhyuk’s sweaty forehead.

Before he could do anything to stop the tiger, Bada nudged Eunhyuk’s shoulder lightly, waking the young man. Eunhyuk’s eyes slowly opened, and as soon as he caught sight of Donghae, he quickly hid his face under the thick blanket.

“Why are you hiding, Eunhyuk? You don’t wish to see me?” The Emperor’s tone sounded mellow.

Eunhyuk shook his head, “No, Your Majesty”, he rasped, his voice rough indicating his sore throat, “I’m sick and I look ugly … You might despise me if you see me like this”.

Donghae chuckled, “Do you think I won’t like you anymore just because you’re sick?” the Emperor pulled the blanket to reveal the younger man’s face once more, “Eunhyuk, it takes more than just a sickness to make me leave you … I love you”.

This time, Eunhyuk didn’t know what to say. Did the Emperor just say that he loves him? Or was that the fever playing tricks on him?

“C-could you say that again?” Eunhyuk stuttered, almost forgetting his manners and grammar.

“I love you Eunhyuk, my jewel, my sweet”.

The confession left Eunhyuk speechless for the whole five seconds, before a shy smile broke into his face.

“And I love you too, Your Majesty”.  
*  
Being the Queen was Yoona’s ambition since the age of 12. So when her father arranged her marriage with the Crown Prince, it was a dream come true. She understood about her obligations to her family, his father made sure of that, she also understood what was expected of her. However, Donghae was unlike what she was expecting.

It only took less than a year for their marriage bed to run cold, Donghae was more interested in finding various bed warmers or go to numerous military campaigns to strengthen the Empire rather than trying to salvage their marriage.

As Donghae found out about her ambition in the Court, they grew even more apart. And now, although they were married in public eyes, they could barely maintain a civil conversation in private. Most people in the court knew about this and Yoona was glad that with her father’s connections, he had plenty of support from the people loyal to her father.

Yoona was quite satisfied with the fact that she was a Queen and there was nothing Donghae could do to change that. However, lately there was a rumor in the palace that kept bugging her like an itch she couldn’t scratch.

“Please leave us alone”, Yoona ordered as she entered the Emperor’s study, her ladies in waiting quickly left the room.

Donghae looked up from the paper he was reading, he gave her an uninterested look, “What does my wife the Royal Queen want from me in this lovely day?”

She glared at him, “How could you ask me such question after everything you’ve done!”

Donghae sighed, he was used to her dramatic antics, “Well …?”

“I don’t give a damn care about the whores you fuck in the past, but keeping your slave in the Royal Wing?! I try to ignore the fact that you’re fucking a lowborn whore … much less a dirty slave from a fishing village! This time you really brought shame to me and my family!”

Donghae’s jaw hardened at the accusation, but Yoona was too angry to stop.

“How dare you give him chambers more luxurious than mine! Everybody in court was having a field day talking about the Emperor gifted his pet tiger to his whore while you wouldn’t even let me near the beast! And to top it all, you gave the Blue Moon to that whore! The jewel is supposed to be mine! Not to some ugly dirty fisherman boy!”

The slap surprised Yoona more than anything.

“I’ve tolerated you enough, never forget that I’m your Emperor, Yoona”.

The Queen stared at her husband in disbelief. Donghae never hit her before, they’d exchanged insults but he never hurt Yoona even in the peak of his anger. Although rage was still burning inside her, Yoona realized that this was a battle she could not win.

“Is that all you need to tell me?”

“That would be all, Sire”, she curtsied and turned around to the door.

As Yoona walked through the halls, followed by her ladies-in-waiting, another lady joined her.

“Did you find anything?” she asked Taeyeon.

“Yes, Your Highness, I think I found our weak link … it is just as we predicted”

“Good, find out more about it, your service will be highly appreciated”, Yoona smirked, “Make sure that the little pest is properly disposed”.

Taeyeon nodded and left the Queen.  
*  
With spring coming, the weather was gradually got warmer. Eunhyuk recovered from the cold and had returned to his daily life.

His royal lover seemed to have more free time these days, they spent more time together. He taught Eunhyuk how to play cards and chess, the younger man was not good at the games, but he let Eunhyuk wins most of the time.

The Emperor gave him a lot of gifts, the most beautiful gift was the necklace with a large Sapphire framed with diamonds so beautiful they reminded Eunhyuk of the stars in the night sky.

This morning, Eunhyuk woke up in the Emperor’s strong arms, he yawned and snuggled closer to his lover’s arms, smiling to himself.

“Good morning my sweet”, the pair of eyes met his as they were opened, “What did I tell you about my morning kiss?”

Eunhyuk bit his lower lip shyly, last night the Emperor tasked him with giving a morning kiss to wake the Emperor every morning every time they sleep together.

“I guess I have to retrieve it on my own”, the Emperor pulled him closer and pressed their lips together.

Eunhyuk sighed at the feeling of his royal lover’s tongue coaxing him to open his mouth. He complied and the Emperor deepened their kiss.

Their position was a little awkward with Eunhyuk on top of Donghae. He wanted to reverse their position but Donghae kept his position. Donghae guided Eunhyuk’s hand to explore his body. Eunhyuk blushed as his hand traveled down the well-muscled body, so much different than his own and yet, enticing for him to explore.

When Eunhyuk’s hand reached to Donghae’s morning erection, he blushed a deeper shade of red.

Donghae lead Eunhyuk’s hand to massage the hard organ.

“Can you feel it?” Donghae asked, “It’s hard for you”.

Eunhyuk actually moaned and looked down in embarrassment. They hadn’t had penetrative sex since Donghae’s return, but as soon as Eunhyuk was recovered, Donghae had been teaching the younger man many ways of pleasure.

Donghae pulled Eunhyuk’s loose sleeping pants down, he was met with Eunhyuk’s hardening member. He made Eunhyuk to straddle his waist and pressed their arousals against each other, placing Eunhyuk’s hand on his and jerked their arousals. He actually moaned at the feeling of Eunhyuk’s hand on his over sensitive flesh.

Eunhyuk was a work of art, biting his lower lip in concentration as his hands masturbated both of their hard organs. After a little while, he finally took the initiative and began to move his hip, the movement was sloppy and a little awkward at first.

It was easy for Donghae to take the lead and flipped Eunhyuk to take what he wanted. He always had what he wanted with his previous bedmates. However, Eunhyuk was different. Donghae wanted the younger man to have more confidence and understanding what his body wanted.

Eunhyuk’s organ twitched and more pre cum escaped the tip, he was getting closer to completion.

“Ah … hah … hah … S-sire … I’m cl-close … m-may I…? Ah …”

“You’ll only come when I allow you”, Donghae decided to be a little cruel this time, he rubbed the weeping tip of Eunhyuk’s arousal, causing a cute whine escaping Eunhyuk’s plump lips.

Eunhyuk fought the warm tickling feeling coiling in his stomach, he moved faster to bring his royal lover closer to the peak, so maybe he could come by then. Donghae sensed his thoughts and began to move his own hip to match Eunhyuk’s thrusts.

Unlike Eunhyuk, Donghae was an experienced lover, he could stave off his orgasm longer. With Donghae moving sensually and how their arousals rubbed against each other, Eunhyuk was pulled even deeper into the pit of pleasure.

“Do you want to come, Eunhyuk-ah?”

Eunhyuk nodded vigorously.

“Give me my morning kiss”.

Eunhyuk leaned down, capturing Donghae’s lips on his own, in the same time, Donghae’s larger hands wrapped around their organs. He took Eunhyuk’s moans into a deep kiss as they came almost in the same time, soiling their lower bodies and hands.

Donghae pulled Eunhyuk’s body to rest next to his own, the younger man was panting hard. Although Donghae had taught him more about the pleasure of the flesh, he still needed to build up his stamina to match the Emperor.

On mornings like these, Donghae was thankful that Bada was on his outdoor enclosure so the tiger wouldn’t stare at Donghae with his accusing eyes. Bada seemed to like Eunhyuk so much now that he completely forgotten who his master was.

An hour later, they were both dressed and ready to start the day. Eunhyuk was going to start his lesson with Lady Choi, after a week of holiday, while Donghae was going to go hunting.

Eunhyuk was slightly worried because he misplaced the book he was supposed to read during his holiday, Donghae watched the younger man searched under the bed with a smile.

Bada arrived as Hyoyeon came with breakfast. The tiger came to sniff Donghae’s hand and rubbed his body against his master like a cat, but then decided to play with Eunhyuk who was still searching for his book.

Eunhyuk groaned and told the tiger to leave him alone, Bada pounced on him and purred like a cat, ignoring his order.

“Yes yes I know you miss me”, Eunhyuk patted the large head, “I miss you too Bada … did you have a good time playing outside last night?”

When Eunhyuk came to the table, he realized that Hyoyeon was the only one to serve their breakfast.

“Where’s Yuri, Hyeoyon-ssi?” he asked the maid.

“She has a family matter to attend, Eunhyuk-ssi”, Hyoyeon answered, “She might not come to work for a few days”.

Hyoyeon then excused herself politely and left the room. She would come back later and collect the dishes.

“I hope she’s alright”, Eunhyuk said as he ate his breakfast.

“Her brother is in the army, he might be injured during the battle”, Donghae replied, “Do you like her?” he turned to meet Eunhyuk’s eyes.

Eunhyuk was surprised at the sudden question.

“No! I mean … I like her but it’s not like that Your Majesty”, Eunhyuk arranged his words carefully, “I like her, she always treats me nicely … Yuri and Hyoyeon are the only friends I got here … but I like you the most, Your Majesty”.

Donghae laughed at Eunhyuk’s innocent proclamation.

“I will ask my counselor to find out what happens to your friend and see if her family is in trouble, do you like that?”

Eunhyuk nodded, “Thank you Sire!”

“But I will ask one thing from you”.

“What is it?”

“Call me by my name”.

Eunhyuk blinked in confusion.

“In exchange of making sure your friend is alright, I want you to stop using honorific, at least when we are alone, you should call me by my name”.

“Your M-…?”

Donghae pressed a finger to silence the younger man.

“Try again”.

“S-sire?”

“My name”, he cut Eunhyuk’s words, “Didn’t Lady Cho at least teach you that?”

“Donghae …?” Eunhyuk murmured uncertainly.

“I want you to use it when we’re alone, do you understand?”

Eunhyuk nodded.

“Donghae”, he tried again, more certain this time, he liked the way the name rolled on his tongue, “Thank you for looking after my friend, Donghae-ah”.

The Emperor smiled a genuine smile.


	5. 5- HEART

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter of Emperor Donghae and his beloved Jewel, Eunhyuk ... and a certain tiger called Bada.

Yuri didn’t come to work for the next four days, Hyoyeon had no idea what happened to her friend, and Eunhyuk wasn’t sure if he should ask his royal lover about Yuri.

The day went as usual with Eunhyuk playing with Bada outside, now that the weather was warmer and Eunhyuk knew his way around the Palace.

Eunhyuk was chasing Bada in the large garden when he realized that he was no longer in the same area he used to be. This part of the Royal Garden had exotic plants and trees shaped like fantasy animals, there were gazebos decorated with colorful flowers and paper lanterns. The place was dream-like, Eunhyuk never knew such thing existed.

Eunhyuk was still admiring the view when he heard a scream from one of the gazebos. He quickly ran to the area and found a group of ladies screaming in terror at the sight of Bada playing with a paper lantern.

The ladies were beautiful, they wore colorful dresses and elaborate hairstyle. They gathered together, looking at Bada and Eunhyuk, whispering to each other some of them even shrieking in fear at the sight of Bada although the tiger was ignoring them.

Eunhyuk took Bada by the collar and excused themselves politely, one of the ladies even called for the guards to remove the unwanted visitors.

The guards knew about Bada, being the Emperor’s pet, but they had no idea who Eunhyuk was. Eunhyuk was always dressed in comfortable simple clothes, so he looked more like Bada’s caretaker rather than the Emperor’s concubine. They pushed Eunhyuk away from the garden party.

Just before he left, their comments reached Eunhyuk’s ear.

“Eugh! Take that smelly boy away!

Another lady added, “He’s ruining the Queen’s garden party!”

“How could someone so ugly and smelly lives in the beautiful palace? Get him away quickly!”

They hurt his heart, Eunhyuk bit his lip and left the beautiful garden, Bada followed him even when he wasn’t holding Bada’s collar.

Eunhyuk was still upset when he was back in his room. Hyoyeon was preparing his bath when she realized Eunhyuk was being too quiet.

“What’s wrong with you, Eunhyuk-ssi?” she asked.

Eunhyuk only shook his head, lowering his body on the bathtub and looked down on his own palms.

Hyoyeon let the young man lost in his own thoughts for a while as she was busy with her tasks now that she was alone without Yuri to help her. When she returned, Eunhyuk was still looking uncharacteristically sad, so she decided to ask again.

“Are you sick, Eunhyuk-ah?” she began to brush Eunhyuk’s hair as she always did after Eunhyuk was done with his bath.

Eunhyuk shook his head.

“Is it because you miss Yuri?”

He shook his head again.

“Did His Royal Highness do something to make you sad?”

“No”.

Hyoyeon didn’t know what to ask anymore, however, when she was done and was about to leave, Eunhyuk asked.

“Am I really ugly and smelly?”

Hyoyeon gave a knowing smile, “Do you think the Emperor could love someone ugly and smelly this much?”  
*  
The Emperor was busy with a delegation from a kingdom across the sea, so Eunhyuk spent the night alone. He wasn’t expecting that a tailor was waiting for him in the morning as he was getting ready.

“His Majesty wanted you to have a new set of formal clothes”, the tailor explained, but he didn’t say anything more.

The tailor measured Eunhyuk and made some notes, he drew some sketches on his notes and excused himself as quickly as he came.

Lady Cho arrived not long afterwards. The next two days, Eunhyuk was busy with the new subject Lady Cho was teaching him and the Emperor’s schedule didn’t allow him to visit Eunhyuk.

One afternoon, when he was back to his room after his lesson with Lady Cho, Eunhyuk was surprised to see a set of beautiful clothes prepared for him.

“The Emperor wanted to meet you for dinner”, Hyoyeon said, “Come, let me help you to put this on!”

The new clothes were beautifully made, Eunhyuk had never touched anything like it, much less owning one. The blue silk was decorated with silver threads, creating small delicate patterns, they fitted perfectly on Eunhyuk’s slim body.

Hyoyeon put the sapphire blue necklace around Eunhyuk’s neck and smiled, “There! You look perfect! Now go and have fun with His Royal Highness!”

Two guards was waiting for Eunhyuk, they escorted him to a pathway that led to another garden at the other side of the Palace. Eunhyuk had never been in this garden before.

An iron gate with two intricate statues separated the garden with the rest of the land. The guards opened the gate and led Eunhyuk in.

The garden was decorated more lavishly than the one Eunhyuk saw the other day. Large birds with purple and blue feathers Eunhyuk had only seen on paintings and books strutted around the garden confidently. Tables were piled up with flower arrangements and sweet cakes, music was played by a group of musicians. There were Lords and Ladies of the Courts, all dressed beautifully in soft colors, they talked to each other softly.

Remembering his experience around the nobles the other day, Eunhyuk was suddenly felt out of place. He bit his lip nervously and suddenly wondered why he was there.

A guard announced his arrival and everybody quickly stepped aside, they gave way to him, the music stopped playing and all eyes were on him. Eunhyuk wished he could just disappear at that moment.

Eunhyuk’s eyes found his lover, the Emperor, in the middle of the garden, smiling at him. The Emperor held out his hand to Eunhyuk, waiting for the younger man to come to him.

Chin up, back straight, walk confidently even when you’re not. Eunhyuk remembered what Lady Cho taught him.

And he did. Despite being extremely nervous, Eunhyuk walked to the Emperor. He bowed at the Emperor as Lady Cho taught him, when he straightened up, his Royal lover was smiling kindly at him, offering his hand. Eunhyuk took the hand and applause was heard from the guests.

The Emperor didn’t let go of Eunhyuk all night, he took Eunhyuk to look around the garden, showing his lover the wonders. There were many types of colorful birds in large birdcage, their feathers so vibrant Eunhyuk never imagined any living creatures could be so unreal. The regal large birds with glamorous feathers walked around freely, they didn’t seem to be bothered by the humans around them.

The musicians played beautiful music, there were dancers in elaborate costumes, acrobats, little dogs and trained monkeys performing tricks. Eunhyuk was amazed, he couldn’t even blink his eyes.

The food came, and as usual they were delicious. The meat tender and juicy, vegetables so sweet and crunchy, and on top of that was the endless cakes topped with cream, candied fruits covered with caramel and sweet wine.

As the sun set, torches and silk lanterns were lit. A group of fire dancers came and performed intricate moves, playing with fireballs as if they were just bundles of cottons.

The nobles tried to engage Eunhyuk with polite conversation, they all praised his looks and asked if he would like to join them in a game of card or watch a play some time.

“Eunhyuk is still adjusting, he needs some time to get used to the life in the Palace”, the Emperor answered for him.

At the end of the night, the Emperor walked him back to the Palace.

“Did you have a good time, my sweet?”

Eunhyuk nodded, smiling widely, “I did, thank you for the night, Your Majesty”.

And the Emperor kissed him, it was the first time they kissed outside, in front of the guards around them. Eunhyuk was shy, but the Emperor deepened the kiss and refused to let him go. By the time the kiss ended, Eunhyuk’s cheeks were pink.

“Go back to your room, I will see you again soon”, the Emperor said.

Although Eunhyuk wished he could spend the night with his lover, he knew the Emperor had other things to do.

“Good night your Majesty”.  
*  
A vase was hurled against the Emperor’s painting on the wall. The piece of expensive glass was shattered.

“How could that bastard do this to me!” Yoona screamed, “Aaaargh!!”

Another vase was thrown, followed by a teacup.

Sooyoung and Taeyeon watched the Queen raged, exchanging looks as they stood side by side. 

“Why can’t he just fuck his dirty whore somewhere and get over with it?! Damn bastard has to rub it in my face that he’s fucking that low born slave?!”

Yoona had enough of Donghae letting his pleasure slave play outside with his tiger, fortunately the boy liked to dress like a peasant so only a few people knew about his position. Most people thought of the dirty boy as nothing but the tiger’s caretaker.

But on that day the boy dared to crash into Yoona’s garden party, humiliating her in front of her friends. Yoona couldn’t stop herself from expressing her feelings.

That dirty whore must had told Donghae, who took the challenge and decided to make an even bigger garden party for his slave. Donghae even showed off the slave, as if wearing the jewelry that was supposed to be Yoona’s could change the fact that he was nothing but a dirty fisherman peasant.

“Aaaargh! Why do you have to ruin everything!!”

The door was opened in the middle of her rage and a middle aged man stepped in.

“Father!” Yoona embraced him.

Yoona’s father quickly dismissed her ladies in waiting, clearing the room for a private talk with his daughter.

“I can’t stand this anymore!” Yoona cried, “That whore needs to go!”

“We must act discreetly and patiently, Yoona”, her father advised, “If you drive the boy away, there would always be a new bed warmer after him”.

“Then what should I do?!”

“I think it’s time for you to bear the Emperor an heir, don’t you think?”

“How am I supposed to do that father?! He won’t even come near me in private!”

Yoona’s father smirked, “Let’s just say that I know a certain Madam who could help you to gain the Emperor’s heart, that way you could give him an heir and secure your position”.

“Black magic?” Yoona guessed carefully, she had heard about the witch, many nobles used her service discretely to get what they wanted. She was particularly popular among the ladies.

Her father nodded, “You just need to make him stay with you long enough to slip in the concoctions”.

The Queen was still sulking, “How am I supposed to do that with that filthy fisherman boy around?!”

“Don’t worry about that boy, Child, he is no longer a threat”, the man hugged his daughter to comfort her, “Sooyoung is taking care of that and soon he will be no more”.

An evil smile spread on Yoona’s face.

“And in the mean time, I have asked Madam Kang for an appointment”.  
*  
“Peacock …” Eunhyuk read the word written on the book, he recognized the picture of the said animal on the page as the large regal birds he saw in the garden.

He was sitting on the floor, reading the book about animals Lady Cho left him. It was raining hard outside so he was stuck inside with Bada.

“I wish I could take you but Donghae said you are not allowed to go to the bird garden”, Eunhyuk told the tiger who looked completely not interested with the book, Bada pawed on Eunhyuk’s hand, asking him to play, “It says here that you eat peacocks …” Eunhyuk gave a disbelieved look at the tiger, “How could you do that? Peacocks are too beautiful to be eaten!”

Bada growled playfully, he rubbed his face against Eunhyuk’s body.

As Eunhyuk flipped the page, he saw another picture, this time it was a tiger with its prey in its mouth. A peacock.

“I guess we’re not going to the garden, Donghae is not going to be happy if you eat his birds”.

Bada’s answer was a paw on Eunhyuk’s head and he lightly nibbled on Eunhyuk’s head.

“Stop that, you’re not a kitten”, Eunhyuk pushed the tiger away.

The next minute, Eunhyuk giggled as the overgrown kitten wrestled him. Book completely forgotten.

Bada saw Donghae as his master, a human he had to respect, no other humans could earn his respect and loyalty like Donghae. While Eunhyuk was something completely different, the human was soft like a fawn but he didn’t want to hurt Eunhyuk. He loved the sound Eunhyuk made when they played, Bada wanted the human’s attention and excitement only for him.

The tiger playfully pounced on Eunhyuk, it didn’t take long for him to seize the young man, he licked Eunhyuk’s face, making Eunhyuk to shrieked and laughed at the rough tongue tickling his skin.

That was how Donghae found them when he entered the room, Bada sitting on Eunhyuk and licking his face and neck.

“Ah! Your Highness!” Eunhyuk pushed Bada’s face away from his face, trying to stand up but the tiger refused to let him go.

“Are you two having fun?” the Emperor grinned at their interaction.

Eunhyuk struggled more to escape Bada’s hold, the tiger finally let him go. As Eunhyuk stood up, his pants pooled on his ankles, Bada had successfully torn his pants, so he was left with his underwear and white shirt.

“Let me change my clothes, Sire”, Eunhyuk excused himself.

Donghae stopped Eunhyuk before he took a step away, “Just take it off, no one is going to see you but me”.

They ended up cuddling in bed, Donghae reading the book with Eunhyuk, Bada laid his head on Eunhyuk’s lap. Unlike earlier, he was calm and content just by snuggling on Eunhyuk’s lap.

“… it says here tigers come from a faraway place, does Bada came from these jungles?” Eunhyuk pointed at the picture on the book.

“His parents did come from a far away jungle, but he wasn’t born there”, Donghae answered, his fingers idly playing with Eunhyuk’s hair.

“How did he get to live with you?” Eunhyuk’s looked up at his lover curiously.

“One day a trader brought a tiger from across the sea, it is extremely difficult to bring a live tiger in a merchant ship, but this trader managed to get a pregnant tiger caught from the wild, the journey was long and hard, but she survived and she gave birth to four baby tigers not long after she arrived … ”, Donghae’s story caught Eunhyuk’s full attention.

“I’ve been wanting to have a tiger since I was young, so when I heard about the trader, I really wanted to see the tigers”.

“I was too late though, the mother tiger died not long after she gave birth, her babies could not survive without their mother and when I arrived, there was only one baby tiger left”, Donghae continued, “I paid the trader although Kyuhyun told me that I was insane for paying so much gold for a dead kitten, he was so small and weak when I got him, everybody thought Bada would not survive”.

“But look at him now … he’s a big kitten with you”, Donghae smiled and nudged the tiger with his leg.

Bada gave a low growl at the intrusion, however he didn’t open his eyes, enjoying Eunhyuk’s hand caressing his head.

Donghae realized that he was not much different than Bada when it came to Eunhyuk. He wanted the younger man as his own, to his surprise, he sometimes envied the tiger for being with Eunhyuk more than him.

But then again, the tiger wouldn’t have thoughts about Eunhyuk’s soft red lips like he did, right?

Slowly, Donghae turned Eunhyuk’s face, pressing his thin lips against Eunhyuk’s plump ones. He coaxed them to open and teased Eunhyuk with his tongue. Eunhyuk sighed into the kiss, he was so sweet like this.

Donghae pulled back, only to trail more kisses on Eunhyuk’s neck and shoulders. Despite his unfortunate start in life, now Eunhyuk’s skin was soft and supple, enticing the Emperor to mark him more.

Eunhyuk let out a small delicious moan as Donghae left a purplish mark on his neck, Donghae was about to make some more when Bada’s paw was on his arm.

“You’ve had your fun, now let me have mine!” the Emperor scolded his tiger, Eunhyuk giggled at Bada’s whine.

Donghae was sure he would wrestle his tiger off Eunhyuk if necessary, fortunately a knock on the door was heard.

Bada’s caretaker arrived, it was time for Bada’s dinner.

“Keep him outside for the night, let him burn some energy”, the Emperor ordered as he handed his pet.

The first thing that greeted the Emperor’s eyes when he returned to the bed was Eunhyuk, staring at a page on the open book. The shirt he was wearing fell over his shoulders, exposing his upper body, his legs tucked underneath him as he was reading something.

“Do you really want to know how they do it?” Donghae whispered on his lover’s ear.

Eunhyuk was startled, he didn’t hear the Emperor coming in.

“I-I … I don’t mean that … Y-your Majesty”, he stuttered.

Donghae’s smirked wider, on the open book was an illustration of two tigers mating.

“Didn’t I tell you to call my name when we’re alone?”

Eunhyuk gulped, “D-donghae …”

“Good”, Donghae closed the book, “Now, how about we try this?”  
*  
Eunhyuk could feel the cool breeze teasing his naked skin as he was kneeling on his four on the large bed. He could feel Donghae’s eyes on him. His legs were spread, baring everything for Donghae to see.

A blush crept up his cheeks.

A small voice reminded Eunhyuk that Donghae had all the rights to do whatever he wanted. He was Eunhyuk’s Owner, Master, Emperor … Lover.

“You are so beautiful Eunhyuk-ah”, Donghae’s hand caressed a line from Eunhyuk’s back, down to his ass, “My jewel … my love …”

Fingers spread Eunhyuk’s cheeks.

“Even here, you are beautiful”.

A slick finger rubbed Eunhyuk’s furled entrance, not really pushing, just pressing lightly and rubbed until Eunhyuk moaned.

“So impatient … my jewel”, the finger pressed a little harder before entering. Eunhyuk shuddered as the Emperor continued to finger him, praising with sweet words that sent a strange ticklish feeling pooling on his groin.

Unconsciously, Eunhyuk raised his hip to meet Donghae’s fingers, his opening slick and ready, as Donghae’s finger touched his sweet spot, Eunhyuk moaned and moved his hip, trying to take in more. As he moved, the soft sheet rubbed against his nipples, causing Eunhyuk to moan more. His organ was hard and leaking in no time, begging for release.

“P-please … ah … D-donghae …” Eunhyuk sobbed, “Pl-please do something”.

The fingers withdrew and Eunhyuk felt strangely empty and needy. He realized that the Emperor was watching him and he felt extremely exposed, this was the first time he was in such position.

Donghae watched his young lover panting on the bed, Eunhyuk’s legs began to tremble as he waited in anticipation.

Preparing his arousal generously with oil, Donghae caught a sight of Eunhyuk’s rosy opening, the small puckering hole was slick with oil but still very tight. Somehow, the thought of spearing Eunhyuk’s quivering tunnel and filling the younger man with his seed made him harder, if it was even possible.

“Mmmmh…!” Eunhyuk moaned as Donghae entered him. The Emperor gave him some time to adjust, before pushing deeper to the hilt.

The position made Donghae’s member reaching places inside Eunhyuk that were untouched before. His channel massaged Donghae’s member greedily, encouraging Donghae to hit him deeper and harder.

Donghae growled as he thrust harder into Eunhyuk, he began to play with Eunhyuk’s arousal, hard and wet with pre come. With every thrust he made, more pre come escaped Eunhyuk’s member.

“If y-you keep doing t-hat … ah … pl-please … Donghae … ah … I’m going to … I’m … aah … going to come!” Eunhyuk begged brokenly.

Donghae really enjoyed the way Eunhyuk was begging under him, he changed his movement, this time he rubbed the tip of Eunhyuk’s arousal, teasing the small slit there, making Eunhyuk cried harder.

Despite his body’s need to orgasm, Eunhyuk tried hard not to, he remembered Donghae’s order not to come without Donghae’s permission.

“Together, Hyuk …” Donghae gasped.

With a particular hard shove against his prostate, Eunhyuk’s member twitched in Donghae’s hand and waves of pleasure hit over him. His insides gripped Donghae’s member and sent the Emperor into his own orgasm, spilling his hot seed deep inside Eunhyuk.

Eunhyuk’s legs gave up on him, Donghae caught him before his body hit the bed. As Donghae pulled away from Eunhyuk, his release gushing out of Eunhyuk’s abused hole, making an obscene paint on the sheets underneath.

The Emperor watched as Eunhyuk’s breath slowly evened, his eyes closed.

“Good night my love”, he kissed Eunhyuk’s forehead affectionately, before wrapping his arms around the younger man.

TBC

Notes:   
This story has developed much longer than I expected! I really enjoy writing Jewel In The Palace, imagining Hyuk being so soft and innocent as Emperor Donghae’s lover is very satisfying.

Once again, forgive me for the terrible setting, I’m not too familiar with Asian period setting, I’m more familiar with European period setting, as I read this chapter over and over again I can’t help thinking that Emperor Donghae and Eunhyuk lived in Versailles ^^;;


	6. 5 - BROKEN

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did he lie … when he told me … when he said that he loves me?” he bit his lower lip, trying to control the tears from falling.
> 
> The words brought painful realization, Sungmin sighed, he didn’t know how to respond at first, so he gave Eunhyuk a hug instead.
> 
> “It was true for the moment, you had his heart yesterday but now his heart is no longer yours”, Sungmin soothed the younger man.

Since Eunhyuk had read all the books Lady Cho brought him, she decided to take him to the Palace Library. The Library was located on the other side of Eunhyuk’s room, Lady Cho taught him how to get there and Eunhyuk quickly memorized the way.

He was not allowed to take Bada to the library though, the tiger usually would still be in his enclosure for breakfast or playing in his pond during Eunhyuk’s time in the Library with Lady Cho. 

Today, he was supposed to meet Lady Cho in the library, Eunhyuk was walking alone through the corridors of the palace, when he saw some maids whispering and gathering on the window on one side of the corridor.

Eunhyuk went to see what they were looking at. 

The window was facing the city outside the palace walls, Eunhyuk could see people gathered and screaming at something, although he couldn’t really caught what they were screaming about. They gathered around some kind of a platform where a burly man wearing a mask was waiting, he carried a large axe in his hand.

Soldiers came marching into the platform with several haggard looking men who had their hands tied together. Eunhyuk could hear the mass of people yelling louder now, some even threw eggs and rotten fruits at the men. 

There was an official who seemed to be having a quick speech to the crowd, after the Officer was done, the men were made to kneel by a thick block.

It happened so fast, the axe swung, and the men’s head fell to the ground.

The maids gasped at the sight, Eunhyuk’s eyes widened in shock, this was the first time he witnessed a public execution.

“Girls, please return to work when you’re done watching the execution like common peasants”, a male voice came out from their back, surprising the maids and Eunhyuk.

There, standing on the hallway was a young man, like Eunhyuk, he was wearing a simple shirt and pants, the boots he was wearing was another story though, Eunhyuk recognized them as something similar to Donghae’s. 

“Ah we also got a royal kitten here”, he motioned at Eunhyuk, his smile was playful, “I didn’t know you’re allowed to play outside by yourself”.

The maids dismissed them selves, they bowed at the young man respectfully, and left in a hurry.

Eunhyuk was sure they’d met at the garden party, but he couldn’t remember if they’d been introduced to each other, so he was quite awkward and had no idea how to address the other man.

“My name is Sungmin”, he gave a friendly smile to Eunhyuk, “And I believe you’re Eunhyuk? Come, let me take you to the library, Lady Cho must be waiting for you”, he took Eunhyuk’s arm as if they were best friends.

Sungmin seemed to be a high ranked noble, judging from the way people they passed bowed and greeted him, but he looked so carefree and easygoing, unlike the stiff looking nobles. Eunhyuk found it easy to befriend Sungmin.

“What just happened?” Eunhyuk asked.

“When people do bad things they become the enemy of the Empire, if they can’t prove their innocence, the Emperor would sentence them to death”, Sungmin explained, “Those are the Daegu Rebels … I believe one of them broke the window to your room”.

Did Donghae sentence those men to death?

Eunhyuk couldn’t believe the same man who read him books and touched him so intimately and gently would order such cruel sentence.

“Don’t mind your pretty head with such thing”, Sungmin said to Eunhyuk airily, “The Emperor is not a cruel man, he always make sure that everybody gets a fair trial before sentence”.

They arrived at the library, Eunhyuk could see Lady Cho reading a book as she was waiting for him.

“Thank you for your time …”

“Just Sungmin, no need to address me with a royal title”, Sungmin cut him, “We’re friends, right?”

Eunhyuk nodded, although still a bit confused.

“Go and see Lady Cho now … Don’t make her wait”, Sungmin then added, “We will surely see each other again Eunhyukkie!”

That day, Lady Cho taught Eunhyuk about the law, explaining about the prison and sentences one could receive for breaking the law, the kinds of crimes and their sentences. It was quite difficult for Eunhyuk to memorize but Lady Cho made it sound easier by setting examples that Eunhyuk could understand.

The next day, early in the morning, a guard came to get Eunhyuk. The Emperor was expecting him outside, he said.

To Eunhyuk’s surprise, his royal lover was waiting for him with a handsome white horse.

“This is Maximus, he’s my war horse”, the Emperor explained.

“Hello Maximus”, Eunhyuk touched the white horse, unlike Bada, the beast ignored him.

“He’s a lot more serious than Bada, he doesn’t play”, the Emperor told Eunhyuk.

Donghae mounted the horse easily, he then offered his hand to Eunhyuk, “Let’s go”.

Eunhyuk blinked, he never rode a horse before. 

The stable hand helped to positioned Eunhyuk behind the Emperor, Eunhyuk held Donghae’s body and was a little unsure. What if he falls? Donghae’s hand squeezing his arm ensured him that he would be fine.

Donghae made sure that Eunhyuk was holding on to him properly, before sending Maximus to a trot. They reached the gate in no time, passing through the beautiful gardens and finally the road around the Palace, Eunhyuk had never gone behind the walls but he had seen the road from his window.

Donghae urged Maximus to a gallop, Eunhyuk yelped as he was surprised at the change of pace, his arms tightening around Donghae who smirked in secret.

Everything around them became blurry to Eunhyuk’s eyes, at first he was scared that he would lose his balance, but after a while, he could follow the horse’s movements and he began to enjoy the ride.

As they passed the second gate, Eunhyuk saw more people, this was the outer part of the Palace, it looked more like a small town, with nobles, servants and soldiers walking around, doing their chores.

Of course everybody scattered to give way at the sight of Maximus galloping full speed through the narrow road.

Before they reached the main gate and the courtyard, Donghae steered Maximus to the other side of the Palace, the Palace Stable. Their last stop. 

By the time Donghae helped Eunhyuk to get down from Maximus’ back, his legs were shaking, but Eunhyuk grinned, happy at the new experience.

They spent the day together, Donghae showed Eunhyuk the Royal Stable and the area where the soldiers practiced archery, before having lunch together. Many nobles saw them and pretended not to ogle at the simple looking young man the Emperor brought with him.  
*  
“… and he has the guts to parade his whore all over the palace!” Another vase hit the Emperor’s painting, the Queen screeched, “I can’t take this anymore!”

“Your Majesty …” Taeyoon tried to calm her lady’s anger while Sooyoung saved the tea set from her Queen’s wrath.

“He’s getting bolder and bolder with his affection for his fisherman whore! Now everybody knows who the Emperor favors! And that is not me!!”

Yoona hurled a teacup to the painting, but it missed the Emperor’s face, she gave another frustrated scream.

“Your Highness … Please … you must contain your anger”, Sooyoung finally said, “Didn’t the Emperor is going to another military campaign in one week? It’ll be a good time to get rid of the filthy boy when the Emperor is away”.

“That’s correct My Queen”, Taeyoon quipped, “We are not without a plan, are we?”

An evil smile crept up the Queen’s face.

“That’s right, we do have a plan … let’s proceed with the plan while the Emperor is away”.  
*  
Donghae spent the whole week with Eunhyuk, he would come to see Eunhyuk after meeting his counselors. His army was preparing to strike another pirate movements around the East Sea. 

Eunhyuk was worried but Donghae kissed Eunhyuk’s face and told the younger man that his army was the greatest in the whole continent.

That settled Eunhyuk a bit.

“I won’t be able to write you for some time”, Donghae combed Eunhyuk’s dark tresses as they laid side by side after another round of sex, “I’ll be in the sea for a month or so”.

“It’s alright”, Eunhyuk replied, “Just promise me …” he linked their fingers and placed their joined hands on his naked chest.

“What is it that you want?”

“Don’t forget about me”.

“How can I forget you, my Jewel?” the Emperor kissed Eunhyuk’s plump lips, “I could never forget you”.

They had another round of slow love making after that.

The day the Emperor left with the Royal Navy, Eunhyuk watched the procession from his window with Bada.

Two days after the Emperor left, Yuri returned. She looked pale and gaunt, dark circles were under his eyes, she didn’t talk much and she didn’t smile when she did her chores. 

Eunhyuk failed to notice it, but Bada kept his eyes on the maid, even when he was playing with Eunhyuk, he would stop and kept a watchful eyes on Yuri as she did her chores. After she left the room, Bada resumed playing with Eunhyuk.

When Yuri was going to help Eunhyuk to his bath, Bada growled and didn’t allow the maid to come closer to Eunhyuk. Yuri bowed and explained that she had been taking care of his sick father so perhaps she smelled like medications and the tiger mistook the smell as poison. The reason made sense to Eunhyuk so he didn’t suspect anything more.

Bada still wouldn’t allow Yuri to come near Eunhyuk, so it was Hyoyeon who assisted Eunhyuk.

One morning, Yuri delivered Eunhyuk’s breakfast alone, Hyoyeon was not coming with her, she ignored Eunhyuk’s greeting, she looked unusually jumpy and she almost dropped the bowl as she put down the bowl of soup on the table.

Bada sniffed the air, the tiger sensed something was not right, he jumped off Eunhyuk’s bed and was about to attack Yuri, if only Eunhyuk didn’t stop him.

“Bada! This is Yuri, what’s wrong with you?!” Eunhyuk held the tiger away from Yuri. 

Bada ignored Eunhyuk and struggled free from Eunhyuk’s hold to get to Yuri.

During the commotion, the breakfast Yuri prepared crashed to the floor and as soon as Bada could get away from Eunhyuk, he pounced on Yuri.

Before Bada could get her, Yuri fell to the floor, kneeling and hugging Eunhyuk’s legs.

“Please … I have to do this! They made me to …! I can’t let my father go to jail!” she sobbed hysterically, “I’m sorry Eunhyuk-ssi, I’m sorry …!”

“Yuri-ssi, what’s the matter?” Eunhyuk was torn between getting the tiger away from the maid or calming her down.

Right in the middle of the mess, Hyoyeon arrived. She looked surprised at the scene, but to everyone’s surprise, she ordered Bada to go into Eunhyuk’s room with a stern tone, which the tiger obeyed, and closed the door, then she pried the crying girl from Eunhyuk.

“Are you alright?” she asked Eunhyuk, who nodded as a reply, “Yuri, what did you do?” 

The maid shook her head and her sob intensified.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry Eunhyuk-ssi! I don’t have a choice … My father is going to die … he can’t go to prison … please …!”

“Eunhyuk-ssi, please keep the door closed, don’t touch anything while I go get help”, Hyoyeon said, “And Yuri, get yourself together, I can’t promise you that things are going to be okay but we’ll try to get you out of this mess, alright?”

It didn’t take long for Hyoyeon to return with Sungmin. Eunhyuk didn’t understand what Sungmin got to do with the whole thing, he told Eunhyuk to see Bada while he talked to Yuri, when Eunhyuk came back a while later, Yuri was looking much better.

“I will take a sample from the soup and the drink, you have to stay with Eunhyuk today”, Sungmin told Hyoyeon.

“What’s going on? Are you going to take Yuri?” Eunhyuk asked.

“We need to talk more as she has more to tell me in private”, Sungmin explained, “Don’t worry, Eunhyukkie”.

Then Eunhyuk remembered something, “You’re not going to take her to the prison, are you?”

“That depends on how much she can cooperate”, Sungmin smiled as if he were merely talking about a stroll in the garden.

After Sungmin left, Eunhyuk turned to Hyoyeon who cleaned up the mess.

“What just happened?”

“Somehow Yuri was persuaded by some court ladies to poison you”, Hyoyeon answered, “In exchange of her father’s safety”.

Eunhyuk couldn’t hide his surprise at the answer, how come someone wanted him dead? And what did Sungmin got to do with the whole case?

“I haven’t been completely honest with you, Eunhyuk-ssi”, Hyoyeon stood up and put the last of the broken pieces of chinaware to the bin, “I work for Sungmin, I’m not actually a maid, he told me to apply as your handmaid when the Emperor brought you here”.

“Sungmin-ssi is the Emperor’s step brother, he’s the second prince and the head of Royal Secret Intelligence, at first he told me to spy on you, to make sure that you don’t bring harm to His Majesty, and later, he told me to keep an eye on you, make sure that you’re safe”.

“Things might get dangerous for you from now on, Eunhyuk-ssi, be very careful and keep Bada with you all the time”.

Eunhyuk was stunned at the explanation. He was no longer the simple slave boy from a fishing village, he was now thrust into the Palace political game.

Sungmin came in the afternoon, to Eunhyuk’s surprise, Bada welcomed the young prince warmly, he growled and tried to gnaw on Sungmin’s shoulder playfully.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about myself sooner, I was worried that you’d treat me differently”, Sungmin told Eunhyuk, as they sat together, “I’m Donghae’s step brother, my mother was the late Emperor’s concubine”.

“Yuri is safe, but she had to stay away from the Palace for a while”, Sungmin continued, “She was forced by some powerful nobles in the Palace to poison you, or they’d harm her family, we’ve managed to send her to the countryside where she could stay hidden with her family for a while”.

“I… I don’t know what to say …” Eunhyuk looked down on his lap, the whole thing was just too much for him to handle.

“Things would be alright, don’t worry too much, okay?” Sungmin smiled reassuringly, “When Donghae returns, he’ll get things right”.

Days turned into weeks, the summer heat reminded Eunhyuk of his home across the sea, where it was always sunny all through the year. 

There was another attempt of poisoning him, but Bada chased away the lady who gave him the cake, Eunhyuk threw the cake immediately and told Sungmin about it. 

Five weeks later came the good news. The Emperor was back.

Although the Emperor was victorious, he was injured during a battle, despite Eunhyuk missing Donghae, he was told that the Emperor was resting in his room and did not wish to see anyone.

Eunhyuk waited and waited, however even after two weeks, Donghae was not coming to see him. He tried to ask the guards and Hyoyeon, they told him that the Emperor was still healing.

“I miss him Bada”, Eunhyuk hugged the tiger, “But … what if … what if he doesn’t miss me?”

The tiger gave a low purr and rubbed his head against Eunhyuk’s face.

“I hope he gets well soon …”  
*  
“THAT is not my brother! What happened to him?!” Sungmin spat angrily.

“His Majesty had a nasty wound when fighting the pirates, the Royal Healer prescribed him strong medications so he might be slightly drowsy, My Grace”.

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Sungmin snapped at the older noble, “Why are you even here Lord Kim? Who is that slimy old man you called the Royal Healer because the Royal Healer is supposed to be Heechul! And where the hell is Heechul?!”

“Healer Heechul was fired, My Prince”, Lord Kim answered politely.

“What?! On whose order?!” Sungmin almost lost it.

“Lord Kim, you are excused, please leave us alone”, a tall man came to cut the conversation, “My Prince, please come with me to my chamber”, he told Sungmin, before the Prince said anything back, he added, “I insist”.

Sungmin sighed, “Alright Kyuhyun, lead the way”.

Kyuhyun’s chamber was on the other side of the Palace, the long walk was enough to calm the Prince down a little. As soon as they arrived in Kyuhyun’s chamber, Kyuhyun locked the door while Sungmin made sure that no one was listening.

“My room is always safe, My Prince”, Kyuhyun sat down and poured a glass of wine, “No one could spy on us here”, he handed a glass of wine to Sungmin, “You are welcomed to be as loud as you want as no one will hear you … like always”.

Sungmin sat down and accepted the wine, “What is going on Kyu? What happened to my brother?”

“He was wounded during the battle, it was quite bad, and the stubborn fool insisted that he was fine, by the time we reached the port he had a fever and almost lost consciousness”.

“Where’s Heechul? Why is that slimy old man is here instead of Heechul?”

“Admiral Lee fired him”, Kyuhyun replied, “When Donghae succumbed to the fever, Admiral Lee accused Heechul of treason and fired him, I couldn’t do anything as the damn bastard was too proud to explain himself and left the ship, I have no idea where he is right now”.

“What?!” Sungmin threw his hands in frustration, “Heechul left his Emperor in the hands of that … that snake?! For his pride?! I don’t understand this anymore!” Sungmin took the bottle of wine and gulped half of its content, ignoring the glass Kyuhyun offered him, “I’ll drown him in the East Sea if I ever see him again!”

“You need to calm yourself”, Kyuhyun reached out to the Prince, he coaxed Sungmin to let go of the wine bottle and put it aside, “A dangerous time is coming, Donghae needs us to stay strong for him … and the Empire”.

“This is such a mess …” Sungmin closed his eyes and massaged his temple, leaning on the taller figure next to him, “There’s something not right going on Kyu, Donghae looked so weak and drowsy, he didn’t even recognize me when I came to see him!”

Kyuhyun took another gulp from his glass, he didn’t say anything, but he looked grim.

“My gut feelings said that the Royal Bitch got something to do with the whole thing”, Sungmin concluded.

Kyuhyun stroke Sungmin’s short hair, he too, seemed to be in deep thoughts.  
*  
Three weeks passed since the Emperor was back, and Eunhyuk was still unable to meet him. Lady Cho got sick and had to rest at home so her lessons were stopped. It was her son, Cho Kyuhyun, who came to deliver the news. 

On the fifth week, Eunhyuk caught a glimpse of the Emperor in the garden, having a Summer Ball, a beautiful woman on his side.

Although they were too far away, Eunhyuk was sure the Emperor looked healthy as he laughed and danced with the Queen.

The next week, Hyoyeon came very late with his breakfast. When she arrived, she brought only a bowl of simple vegetables and fish meal, cooked plainly without the extravagant spices. The meal was cold and unsavory.

“I’m very sorry Eunhyuk-ssi”, Hyoyeon bowed deeply, “The Royal kitchen refused to give your meal … I took these from the servant kitchen … I hope this will be alright for you until they can sort out the mistake …”

Hyoyeon looked troubled but it wasn’t her fault, Eunhyuk decided. He smiled and told her that he didn’t mind at all. After all the meal was so much better than what he had as a slave. 

Of course, the mistake was never corrected, Eunhyuk had cold plain meals taken from the servant kitchen everyday since that day.

In the middle of summer, an officer came to Eunhyuk’s room with several guards, demanding to search for stolen goods. Eunhyuk did not understand what he was looking for, he was alone by the time the officer came. Bada was out in his enclosure.

The officer took most of the paintings and furniture from Eunhyuk’s room, when he found the sapphire necklace the Emperor gave Eunhyuk, he took it, claiming that it was stolen it from the treasury.

He also took the beautiful suit Donghae commissioned for Eunhyuk. Claiming it belong to the Court.

Sungmin was livid when he came to Eunhyuk’s room that evening and found it bare, Eunhyuk told the Prince that it was fine by him. He was used to live in poverty before the Emperor bought him, so what was left in the room was more than enough for him. 

The Prince made sure to ask for Eunhyuk’s companion whenever he was free, he taught Eunhyuk archery and horse riding whenever he got the time, and for those times, they were just two friends having fun together.

Eunhyuk asked Sungmin about Donghae, wondering what happened to the Emperor, why he no longer visits Eunhyuk? Sungmin didn’t answer the questions, he looked sad and grim, so Eunhyuk decided not to ask any more questions after a while.

Until one day, Sungmin took Eunhyuk to the small bridge in the middle of the large pond where beautiful swans and colorful ducks were swimming. It was a bright sunny day but Eunhyuk could sense a bad news coming.

Sungmin looked around and made sure no one was listening, before starting.

“The old Emperor, my father, had many women he loved”, Sungmin started, “My mother was a minor noble lady who caught the Emperor’s eyes, she became his Concubine, the same position as you are now … While Donghae’s mother, a princess from a country across the sea, married the Emperor out of obligation and duty … My mother, bless her pure heart, believed that the Emperor loved her”.

Eunhyuk never heard of the Old Emperor’s life except from several paintings and writings on the books he read. Donghae never talked about his father. 

“Years passed and slowly what came as an obligation and duty changed the Queen’s heart, she slowly loved the Emperor and bore him a son, Donghae … not long after, I was born”.

“The Queen grew jealous and made my mother’s life difficult, The Queen was unhappy and angry, knowing that the man she loves had another woman in his heart”.

“My mother lived in the Palace and received royal title because she bore me, a Royal Prince, but The Emperor’s love was fickle, as a man who could have everything, he loved many women in his lifetime, my mother died of broken heart as she couldn’t keep the heart of the man she loved, I was eight when she died”.

“The Queen lashed out her anger towards the women the Emperor loved, although it only drove the Emperor away, they grew apart, she became heart broken a bitter, trying to grasp his love and attention but received none”.

“She watched him die before she too died merely months after his death”.

Sungmin looked at Eunhyuk, “Remember this, Eunhyukkie, love does not exist behind these walls”.

Eunhyuk wanted to protest, defending Donghae’s claims that he loved Eunhyuk, Donghae was not his father and he meant what he said when he told Eunhyuk that he loved the younger man.

Eunhyuk looked down, hot tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

“Did he lie … when he told me … when he said that he loves me?” he bit his lower lip, trying to control the tears from falling.

The words brought painful realization, Sungmin sighed, he didn’t know how to respond at first, so he gave Eunhyuk a hug instead.

“It was true for the moment, you had his heart yesterday but now his heart is no longer yours”, Sungmin soothed the younger man.

A broken heart couldn’t be worse than receiving beatings and no food for the night, right? Eunhyuk couldn’t remember the last time he cried, but that day, he cried in Sungmin’s arms until he couldn’t cry no more.


	7. 6 - PROMISE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Your Majesty, you are the Emperor, and you can have anything you want in this world”, to his surprise Eunhyuk smiled serenely, “I am just a slave you bought for less than ten gold coins, I’m yours to command and my love for you holds no grudge, you gave me this life, and even if I can’t have your love forever, I’ll be content for what you gave me”.

Donghae couldn’t remember much, he remembered the battle, at some point he received a hard blow on his head, he could still remember he tasted blood, in the end he killed his opponent and his army won the battle.

Then everything went blurry.

He remembered having a fever, his head hurt badly, he was torn between painful consciousness and feverish sleep. Then there was this healer, a middle aged thin man who gave him medications and tended to his wounds.

Wait, this man was not his healer … He had his own healer, someone he could not remember clearly but he knew his healer was not this man. 

He knew he was back to the Palace, the headache returned many times a day and the new healer gave him medicated tea. It tasted awful, Donghae never liked sweets and the medicated tea had overly sweet scent and taste … as if it was covering something Donghae could not point out.

The days passed strangely since he returned to the Palace, new faces came and go, the Royal Advisor claimed that he discharged many nobles under his command and appointed new faces on the vacant posts, funny thing was he could not really recall any of it.

He lost some important people he could not remember, every time he tried to think, his head hurt and the memories slipped away, leaving him with a headache. Then he was given the tea and slowly the pain ebbed away, it took away half of his consciousness. It dulled his mind to the point he could not remember anything.

At night, he had recurring dreams, in his dreams, he could hear a tiger roaring, he searched the dark woods with bizarre looking trees and foul scent. He also dreamed of someone he knew very important to him but when he woke up, he couldn’t remember the familiar face that was smiling gently at him. Everything escaped him as if he was trying to grasp the sand.

Donghae woke up with a soft body on the bed next to him. He sat up and found Yoona sleeping. He remembered that Yoona was his wife, however, Yoona’s body was strangely unfamiliar to him and felt wrong in his arms.

It felt as if there was a part of him that went missing. It left a large chunk of empty space in his brain.

He had breakfast with Yoona, she served him various meals she told the cook to prepare just for him. She poured him a cup of tea and told him about the jewelries she ordered from the royal jeweler, the expeditions his father was funding and the parties they were going to host. Donghae nodded dully, they didn’t matter to him. 

The scene was oddly artificial and unfamiliar for him, something was missing, Donghae frowned. What was missing?

He caught a sight of a tiger carved on the handle of the knife and took closer loot at it. He was reminded of his dream, where he was chasing a tiger through the woods.

The headache returned, and without even realizing it, Donghae had been staring at the carving for too long.

“Are you alright dear?” Yoona asked, concerned, “Does your head hurt again?” She poured a cup of tea prescribed by the healer and pressed it against Donghae’s lips, “You need to drink this, Donghae-ah …”

And as usual, the thoughts became distant and dulled, leaving Donghae’s thoughts blunt and his head was filled with stuffy cotton.

Donghae knew something was not right, without the tea, the pain returned and the longer he was without the medication, the stronger the pain would become. The healer and Yoona kept pouring the tea for him at the first sign of his headache returning, Donghae started to hate the tea, it turned him into a mindless person although the pain was gone.

And one day he was tired of his condition, he decided to start experimenting. 

First he needed to find a place where no one could find him. With his mind not working properly, Donghae could only think of a place. 

The tower was where Lady Cho brought him, Sungmin and Kyuhyun when they were young to teach them about basic Astronomy. It was kept clean but mostly abandoned since no royal children went there to learn about Astronomy anymore.

He told the guard that he wanted to be alone and when no one was looking, he slipped into the narrow door at the back of the bookshelves. He locked the trap door and pushed heavy furniture to keep the door closed from the inside. He brought a container with clean water he filled from the bath, he didn’t trust the drinks that were served for him.

The first sign of the headache returned in the afternoon, Donghae ignored the pain, it got worsened to the point his eyes were blurry and his hands shook as he tried to drink some water. 

The pain escalated greatly, it was as if someone was hammering the inside of his head, some time near sunset, Donghae passed out.

The nightmare he had was full of terrors, Donghae woke up sweating and gasping. The pain was still there, torturing him, clawing his nerves like millions of needles.

Donghae was a stubborn man, despite the fear that the pain would kill him, a little voice inside him said that he would be alright.

The clear summer night sky presented millions of stars on the dark sky, the Emperor laid on the wooden floor helplessly as pain consumed him. He looked up to the open ceiling, a memory when he was just a little boy came to his mind.

Lady Cho was pointing at the constellations on the night sky, she showed them the tiger constellation, the Governess recited a story about the tiger who helped a knight to kill an evil serpent.

“I want a tiger when I grow up!” little Donghae told Lady Cho.

“Of course you can have a tiger My Prince”, she replied with a smile.

The memory kept playing in his head, over and over again, with the pain like a dark cloud fogging his thoughts, Donghae began to shiver as fever claimed his body.

Donghae woke up as the sun was high in the sky. He was extremely weak, blood was coming out of his nose, he was thirsty and hungry, but for the first time since the battle, his head was clear.

Donghae caught his expression on a large mirror across the room. He looked like he fought a nest a devils the whole night. Apart from blood coming out of his nose, he had scratch marks all over his face and neck, he must had scratched himself during the night to relieve himself from the pain. He was deathly pale and his lips were dry, his eyes red, and his hair messy.

It didn’t take long for everything to click in to his mind. He knew the culprits behind the whole thing, although Donghae was not sure how bad things were but he needed to act fast.

Ignoring his trembling legs, Donghae went to his study.

“Your Highness! We’ve been looking for you all night! I will call the Royal Healer …”

“Who are you?” Donghae cut the young man dressed as a scribe sitting on his private study.

“I’m your private scribe Your Majesty”, he answered.

“Where’s Kim Ryeowook?!”

“You fired him, Your Majesty”.

Donghae didn’t remember firing the royal scribe, Ryeowook was his scribe since he ascended the throne and had been his friend for a long time, he was more than just a scribe to the Emperor, Donghae never thought of allowing the younger man a holiday much less firing him.

“Find him”.

“But Your Grace he’s …”

“Bring him here in one hour or I will have your head!”, Donghae cut the young man’s explanation.

The new scribe gulped, his expression paled.

“Y-yes … Your Majesty”, he bowed and ran out of Donghae’s private study.

Donghae washed his face, the cool water freshened him. As he wiped his face he remembered something. 

He went down to the gardens, he had memorized the way clearly, the servants and maids passing him bowed and greeted him with respect, although they seemed to be puzzled at his appearance. Donghae ignored them and as he reached the garden, he half ran to a familiar spot.

What was he looking for? He wasn’t sure himself. But then the sight uncovered the fog in his mind.

A young man wearing simple commoner clothes was playing with a tiger as if the beast was a house cat. The tiger chased the young man and pinned him to the ground, they wrestled playfully and the tiger playfully gnawed on his head, causing the young man to laugh and tried to push the tiger away.

“Eunhyuk!”  
*  
Eunhyuk stopped playing with Bada at the sound of his name being called. There, he saw the face he’d been missing for the past months.

“Y-your Highness?” Eunhyuk mumbled, unsure. Bada growled a little in warning. The tiger recognize the man but he smelled something foul and bad coming out of the man. He didn’t know if he should protect Eunhyuk or accepts the man who looked like his master.

Eunhyuk was suddenly caught into a strong embrace, the Emperor held him tightly, Eunhyuk didn’t know how to respond.

It was Bada who nudged them apart, he sniffed at Donghae curiously.

“Bada, it’s me!” Donghae kneeled, and with no hesitation hugged the tiger.

Just then Bada recognized his master, underneath the foul smell was the man who took care of him since he was a baby.

Donghae sensed the eyes of the servants and guards at them, whispering to each other, with the Emperor was caught wandering the Palace looking haggard and crazed, it wouldn’t take long until Yoona realized what happened.

“Let’s go to your room”, the Emperor told Eunhyuk.

As they reached Eunhyuk’s room, Donghae was startled at the condition of his lover’s room.

The walls were bare, the paintings and decorations were all gone. The bedding was no longer the soft blue fabric he ordered, now they were bare and rough. As he took a closer look at Eunhyuk, he realized that Eunhyuk’s shirt had rough stitches to put the fabric together in some places. Eunhyuk’s hand he was holding was calloused and rough.

“S-sire?”

The Emperor didn’t say anything, he went to Eunhyuk’s closet, the beautiful suit he ordered for Eunhyuk was gone, the clothes hanging on the spacious closet were all in the same condition as the one Eunhyuk was wearing, they were all shabby and had rough stitches in various places. The bottles of oils and perfumes were empty.

“What happened Eunhyuk?” Donghae demanded.

Eunhyuk did not know where to start, the Emperor seemed upset and he didn’t understand why after months of ignoring him, the Emperor suddenly returned in such condition.

Before Eunhyuk answered, Hyoyeon came with Eunhyuk’s meal. 

She was surprised to see the Emperor in such state.

“Your Majesty, I have no idea that you were here”, she bowed.

Donghae saw the bowl of simple meal she put on the table and frowned.

“The royal kitchen no longer provides food for Eunhyuk-ssi, Your Grace, I brought these from the servant kitchen”, she explained bluntly, “Officer Jang came to confiscated the allegedly stolen goods, therefore you don’t see much left in Eunhyuk-ssi’s room”.

“You’re working for Sungmin aren’t you?” Donghae suddenly asked the maid.

“Yes, Sire”, Hyoyeon replied.

“Go to my study, Kim Ryeowook should be there by now, tell him to come here”, Donghae ordered, “Find Prince Sungmin and bring him here too, make sure nobody is following you”.

“Yes Your Majesty”, Hyoyeon bowed and left.

After Hyoyeon left, Donghae suddenly held Eunhyuk tight.

“What good is an Empire if I can’t even protect the one I love”, his tone was shaky, “Eunhyuk –ah … “

Eunhyuk wrapped his arms around Donghae’s body, he stroke Donghae’s back gently. He didn’t say anything.

Seeing that Donghae was weak and hungry, Eunhyuk offered Donghae his meal. He didn’t expect the Emperor to eat the simple meal ravenously.

While Donghae was eating, Eunhyuk explained about his condition, how he lived after the Palace Advisor decided to cut his supports. He no longer had new clothes and Bada often tore his clothes, since he knew how to mend fishing nets, he decided to sew the clothes himself. Some times he helped the birds caretaker to clean the birds enclosure, the friendly old man gave him copper coins for his help, that was how his hands became calloused and rough. 

“I don’t think I deserve to ask for your forgiveness Eunhyuk”, Donghae sighed, the only person he loved more than anything in this world had to work for a mere copper coin while he was the Emperor, the thought was unbearably tragic, “I have caused you so much grief …”

“Your Majesty, you are the Emperor, and you can have anything you want in this world”, to his surprise Eunhyuk smiled serenely, “I am just a slave you bought for less than ten gold coins, I’m yours to command and my love for you holds no grudge, you gave me this life, and even if I can’t have your love forever, I’ll be content for what you gave me”.

Hearing this reminded Donghae of his late father. No, he would rather die than to turn into his father.

Donghae kissed Eunhyuk’s lips, “Never say that again, you have my heart and my love, no one else can have it, I love you Eunhyuk, my jewel”.

Then Donghae explained what happened to him, Eunhyuk was shocked, he didn’t know anyone would do such thing. 

Hyoyeon returned with a young man, he seemed to be upset first, but when he saw Donghae’s condition, he couldn’t hide his surprise.

“How … what …?!” his eyes widened at the sight of his Emperor, “Are you … back? For real this time?” 

“What were you thinking Ryeowook?!” Donghae scolded, “How could you leave?!”

“You …! You fired me, saying that you don’t need my service anymore and replaced me with that double headed snake!” Ryeowook exclaimed, “You didn’t even pay my last salary!”

“I will double your salary if you return to your old post”.

“Triple it, I’ve got a good marriage offer while I was away!”

“Who would want to marry you?!” 

Sungmin arrived with Kyuhyun before Ryeowook answered the question, they looked equally surprised at Donghae’s presence and his condition.

“Is that really you?” Sungmin grabbed his brother’s shoulder and checked his face, “How do you feel?”

“I fell like I’ve been unconscious for weeks”, Donghae said back, “But I’m all right now, never been better in my life”.

Kyuhyun was equally shocked but he managed to keep his face straight, “The whole palace is looking for you, soon your wife and her minions will know that you are no longer under their influence”.

“Could you arrange to summon the Head of Palace Guards here, Min?” Donghae asked his brother, “Or did I fire him as well?”

“No, you haven’t”, Sungmin replied, he turned to the maid, “Could you be a dear and arrange for Captain Shin to come here, Hyoyeon?”

In the next hour, more noblemen came to Eunhyuk’s room. Although they were all surprised at Donghae’s story, they all came bearing their own grim news.

“Yoona and her father fired half of the nobles who supported you”, Prince Siwon, Donghae’s cousin said.

“I still have half of my supporters, right?”

“They’re either in prison for treason or being exiled”, Siwon continued, “Yoona and Lord Im planned this whole thing carefully, they got the support from various Generals and Lords, they had sworn their loyalty to Lord Im in secret”.

“Yoona plans to claim that she’s with your child and get rid of you when the time is right, she has the support to be the Queen Regent until the child is ready to take over the throne”.

“That bitch!” Ryeowook hissed, “But now that the Emperor is back, we can stop her plan, right?”

“Unfortunately the Emperor can’t expel her that easily”, Kyuhyun said, “You need a solid proof to get her disposed, she has the support of 11 major Lords and Generals, one wrong move and the Empire will be facing a revolution”.

They all went silent at Kyuhyun’s explanation, everybody knew Yoona and her father had thought about the details.

“Then we’ll find another way”, Donghae concluded.

Captain Shin excused himself because he had a patrol to take care of, he made sure that Donghae was not to be disturbed and he swore that he was loyal to the Emperor.

“You need to find out if your men are loyal to the Emperor, Shindong, it’ll be a dangerous time to have a spy under you”, Sungmin advised.

“I’ve noticed several spies, I will find a way to get rid of them, don’t worry”, Shindong said, “I’ll take my leave, My Liege”.

The Emperor excused him and continued the meeting. 

Eunhyuk did not understand half of what they were talking about, Donghae let him go to bed with Bada as the meeting continued.

“How about Kangin? Is he still in court?” Donghae asked.

“The last time I saw him, you banished him”, Kyuhyun replied.

“I did?!”

“Well Lord Im did under your approval”.

Sungmin nodded in agreement.

“Where is he now?”

“I think he’s preparing a rebellion against you, he’s gathering support and he got Lord Park’s support”, Siwon said, “Lord Park paid for his bail so he could spend the last days before his exile with his family”.

“What?!”

“You stripped him off his land and title, he’s a commoner now and he’s scheduled to be shipped to exile in three days”.

They talked until midnight, Siwon left with Ryeowook as the night was getting late. Sungmin and Kyuhyun stayed after they were gone.

“Kyuhyun, how is your mother doing?” Donghae suddenly asked.

“My mother is getting better, she’d been sick since the beginning of summer”, Kyuhyun answered.

Donghae frowned.

“We suspected that she was poisoned, Donghae”, Sungmin explained, “She was too close with Eunhyuk, so they needed to get her out of the way, fortunately she didn’t consumed enough poison to cause serious illness, so now she stays at home as she recovers”.

“I’m really sorry that she had to be involved with this mess”, Donghae turned to Kyuhyun, “But I’m afraid I can’t allow you to go home and take care of your mother during this time”.

“I understand”, Kyuhyun nodded.  
*  
Eunhyuk was half asleep when Donghae was done with his meeting. Eunhyuk was cuddling with Bada on the bed, moonlight illuminated his skin, the thin white sleeping shirt he was wearing was slipping off his shoulder.

Bada opened his eyes as Donghae approached the bed, he then closed them again, realizing that Donghae was not a threat.

“Uhm … you’re done”, Eunhyuk yawned as Donghae slipped under the blanket next to him.

“I want to hold you”, Donghae replied, “I miss you so much Eunhyuk …”

“I miss you too … more than you can imagine”, Eunhyuk said sleepily, “I hope this is not a dream …”

Despite his tired mind, Donghae stayed awake for a little longer, he combed Eunhyuk’s dark hair, thinking. 

He sighed, for once he wished he were just a simple peasant, so he could be with the one he loved the most. He never feared death before but now he feared for Eunhyuk’s safety. 

A pair of golden eyes met his.

“I know …” he rubbed the tiger’s head, “I know you’ll protect him and keep him safe when I’m not around”.  
*  
Eunhyuk didn’t want to open his eyes, he was scared that it was all just a dream. What if Donghae was not here when he opened his eyes? What if it was all just a dream?

But he had to open his eyes, the early morning sun began to shone.

The first thing that greeted Eunhyuk’s eyes was his lover, asleep next to him. 

Eunhyuk smiled. It was rare that he woke up earlier than Donghae, he didn’t get to see the Emperor’s sleeping face as often as he wished. And now, after months of not seeing him, Eunhyuk wished he could savor the moment.

The Emperor’s sleeping face was peaceful, but Eunhyuk could see tiredness lining on his face. The normally charismatic and handsome face seemed to be vulnerable as he slept.

Just one night and Eunhyuk knew his feelings were failing, despite telling Donghae that his love would hold no grudge, Eunhyuk knew deep down inside he was lying. 

Is it alright to love you selfishly? Eunhyuk thought sadly, if you leave me once more, I don’t know if I’ll survive the pain …

His bubbles of thoughts were cut as Donghae’s eyes were opened. The Emperor had woken up.

“What are you thinking, Eunhyuk-ah?” Donghae traced a finger on Eunhyuk’s cheek, sensing his sadness, Donghae pulled the younger man closer, “Are you sad?”

Eunhyuk shook his head, “No, Your Majesty … I just … feel mellow in the morning”.

Donghae knew his lover was lying, Eunhyuk was not a good liar, something was on his mind, but the Emperor let it slip for now.

“I wish I could lay in bed with you the whole day, but I have things to do today”, Donghae rose from the bed.

Eunhyuk sat up, he’s leaving again … he thought. Would he forget about me again if I let him go this time?

A servant came was waiting for the Emperor by the door with fresh clothes and breakfast. To Eunhyuk’s surprise, Donghae called out for him.

“Get ready, I want you to come with me today”, he said, “Stay by my side my jewel”.

Notes:  
The Emperor is back! Eunhyuk got his lover back! But is it for real this time? And what is going to happen to the Queen? 

I’m sure people didn’t speak like this hundreds of years a go, my effort to try writing them speaking in formal and fancy language didn’t turn out well, so let’s just say that all Super Junior members were Donghae’s old friends, so they speak casually with the Emperor in private.

See you on the next chapter!


	8. 7- FOREVER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t look at me like that”, Eunhyuk tried to cover himself.
> 
> “Why?” Donghae caught one of Eunhyuk’s leg by the ankle, “You are so beautiful, Eunhyuk-ah”, he trailed kisses from Eunhyuk’s ankle up to his calf, biting the supple flesh at the back of Eunhyuk’s knee, causing the younger man to yelp a little.

A large scale investigation was held against a herbalist located at the outer side of the capital city. Madame Kang claimed that she was just a normal herbalist, although her methods may be eccentric compared to her colleagues, but she denied that she practiced black magic.

Unfortunately for Madame Kang, her two servant girls cracked under interrogation and admitted that Madame Kang was indeed practicing witchery.

Further investigation unearthed hundreds of unborn fetus remains and baby body parts from the garden of Madame Kang’s resident. A storage containing dozens of pots filled with dried carcasses of animals and questionable spices was found at the Madame’s home. Further search found a stone altar with symbols associated with witchcraft at the back of Madame Kang’s garden. Not only that, the investigators found a book filled with detailed notes listing Madame Kang’s clients. Varying from rich merchants to noble lords and ladies, some even had high position at the court.

It was rumored that the Queen and her father were on the list of her clients, people living near Madame Kang’s home often witnessed a fancy carriage with its windows covered coming to Madame Kang’s home. There were not many noble families with such luxury, which added the speculation that Lord Im and his daughter were the Madame’s regular.

Many times in the past an investigation was held off when people with high ranks were involved. But not this time, more evidence was found and in no time, dozens of nobles and rich merchants were found guilty for using black magic. The investigators worked hard day and night, the courthouse was soon busy with the developing case. One name led to another, each suspect didn’t want to be the only one caught and brought in the next person.

The first to be arrested was Healer Sung, who was proved to be a subordinate of Madame Kang. He faced a difficult case of poisoning the Emperor and treason. Realizing his circumstance was a tough one, he decided to be cooperative with the investigators and told everything he knew. It was from his mouth the investigators gathered more names, including the Queen and her father. Combined with the notes from Madame Kang’s book that stated Lord Im had been making payments for long-term services that Madame Kang had prioritized.

The public was appalled by the crime, this was the biggest case of witchery and black magic in the history of the Empire. Not to mention the large number of nobles involved in it.

Quietly, without the public realizing it, the Lords swearing loyalty to the Queen and her father, pulled off their support.

The day Lord Im was arrested, the Queen made an entrance to the Emperor’s study angrily.

“How could you do this to Father!” she was almost screaming at her husband, “Tell the inspectors to release my father at once!”

The Emperor looked up from the paper he was signing, looking at the fuming woman he was forced to marry.

“Why would I do that?”

“He is the father of the Queen! He doesn’t deserve to be arrested over such petty accusation! Have you lost your mind?!”

“You are my wife and the Queen, but I am the Emperor, you have no right to insult me”, the Emperor said coldly, “Ryeowook, please call the guards to remove this woman from my sight”, Donghae ordered his scribe.

“You can’t do this to me! Donghae!”

“Yoona, you are no longer the Queen, this decree states that you are to be stripped of your royal title for the duration of the investigation”.

The former Queen was escorted out, screaming angrily all the way out, while the Emperor gave the paper he signed to the Royal Scribe.

“This decree is made effective starting today”.

“Yes Your Highness”, Ryeowook accepted the letter.  
*  
Donghae brought Eunhyuk to live in his room, since he gained his memory back, he always kept Eunhyuk near him.

Although Donghae wanted to bring Eunhyuk with him all the time, palace protocol didn’t allow that. So he ordered at least three guards to follow Eunhyuk when he was outside, playing with Bada in the park or just taking a stroll at the bird garden. Eunhyuk didn’t like being guarded all the time, but Yoona’s followers became desperate and dangerous, as the Queen’s downfall seemed to be near.

The news about the Emperor’s new concubine spread all over the Palace like wildfire. Everybody wanted to see Eunhyuk, the young man who stole the Emperor’s heart. Most of them just wanted to sate their curiosity, some opportunistic nobles wanted to befriend him to gain favor from the Emperor, some had more ulterior motives and not to mention the supporter of Queen Yoona who wished to get rid of Eunhyuk for the sake of the Queen.

Eunhyuk was suddenly become extremely popular in the Palace, but it only made the shy young man hid himself inside the Emperor’s room further.

With the investigation, Sungmin and Kyuhyun were more and more busy by the day. Lady Cho was still recovering in her home, and Donghae always returned tired to his room. Sometimes he came back late at night, looking exhausted and all he wanted was to lay in bed, cuddling with Eunhyuk all night.

Yoona’s royal title was revoked and she was taken under custody, there were solid evidences that she had been feeding the Emperor black magic concoctions, which Madame Kang provided. Her father was also detained for the same charge. Despite her plea, it was hard to believe that she was not aware of what was happening as she was the only person who had the access to the Emperor’s food and drinks. The court was appalled at the many evidence that she made the Emperor ate bat, lizard and unborn fetus body parts.

Her trial was quickly set, despite the leniency she received as a former Queen, it didn’t take long to be found guilty. The penalty for treason, attempted poisoning the Emperor and employing a black magic practitioner was death.

She was sentenced by the end of Autumn.

One afternoon, Eunhyuk was surprised to see Donghae returning earlier than usual. Eunhyuk was playing with Bada in the Emperor’s private chamber, when he was called.

Eunhyuk was surprised, Donghae rarely used such serious tone on him. However, he tossed Bada a pillow and told the tiger to wait for him.

The Emperor took his hand, it was the first time he held Eunhyuk’s hand in public, Eunhyuk saw the curious eyes the servants and several nobles who walked past their way, he looked down, feeling uncomfortable with their stare.

They reached a large hall, the biggest Eunhyuk had ever seen. A large map of the Empire was painted on the floor of the hall, Eunhyuk recognized it from the books Lady Cho showed him.

“This is the map of the Empire”, the Emperor started, “Everything you see here is under my rule”, he led Eunhyuk, who was in awe with the grand room.

They were at the Throne Room. Eunhyuk’s heart beat faster, the room displayed the Emperor’s power. It was easy to forget that Donghae was the Emperor when he was with Eunhyuk, he was gentle and kind.

“You hold my heart, Eunhyuk, anything you ask, I would give it to you”, the Emperor continued. Eunhyuk was surprised at the Emperor’s words. He looked up, what is the meaning of this? He shook his head, not trusting his own words.

“I can give you titles, wealth, land … anything you ask I will give it to you in one condition …” Then he led Eunhyuk, who was still speechless, to the dais, where the throne was placed. “Rule with me”.

Eunhyuk stopped moving, he refused to be led by the Emperor to the throne.

“Eunhyuk?”

“Your Majesty”, Eunhyuk bowed deeply, instead of happiness, his face was troubled, “Forgive me … But I refuse”.

Donghae was surprised at Eunhyuk’s refusal, being the Emperor, he was used to be obeyed, he didn’t expect to be rejected, especially from his sweet and obedient Eunhyuk.

“Please listen to my reasoning Your Highness”, Eunhyuk begged at the sight of Donghae’s face hardened.

Donghae allowed him to continue, although he didn’t like Eunhyuk’s refusal.

“I was just a fisherman boy you bought as a slave, Your Majesty, I lived a simple life and I am not a noble … I am more than thankful for the life you give me, but despite all the things you taught me … I am still that slave boy … I cannot rule with you, I wasn’t born as a noble, your subjects are not going to accept me and most of all … you need a Queen who could bear you an heir, and I cannot give you that”.

“I love you more than I love my life, you said I hold your heart but you already have my heart and my love, I only wish that you would let me keep loving you for as long as I live”.

Donghae was stunned.

He was born in a place where loyalty was rare and people would stab one another just for a slice of power.

But Eunhyuk refused it all.

Beautiful gentle sweet Eunhyuk with his simple mind. The only person in this world who loved Donghae as a man, not as an Emperor.

Eunhyuk looked up, worried that his answer would anger the Emperor. But he was caught in his lover’s tight embrace. And even before he could say another word, Donghae kissed him deeply.

“In this life and the next, I swear to you, my heart is always yours”.  
*  
The sun was shining lazily against the gloomy winter sky, the crowd was whispering against each other as a female figure was led to the square.

Yoona held onto her pride as a noblewoman to the last moments of her life. She kept her hair and face done according to her status, despite the simple black dress she was wearing. Several noble women were crying openly, a middle aged noble man tried to keep himself composed but his distress was visible.

Yoona glanced a hateful glare at the tribune, where she knew the Emperor was sitting. She wondered, what was on his mind? Was he contemplating if he had done the right thing? Would he cancel the execution?

She was disappointed, the look on the Emperor’s face was the same cold expression.

“Your Majesty ...?” the Royal Advisor came bowing to the Emperor who only glanced at him lazily.

“For the sake of the throne, Your Highness, please reconsider the execution...”

The Emperor waved his hand dismissing the elderly advisor, “No amnesty granted, proceeds with the execution.”

“Your Highness, I must remind you the consequences of your action, she was the Queen and ...”

“If you don’t tell them to start now, I’ll go and kill the hag myself”, the Emperor cut impatiently.

The advisor bowed, “As you wish, your Majesty.”

The Emperor watched impatiently as his words were delivered to the executioners. A ghost of smile graced his feature, and as the ribbons of flames licked the body tied to the stake, the Emperor’s smile was unmistaken.

There were five executions that day, and Donghae stayed to watch each one of them. Making sure to look at them in the eyes before ordering their death.

This is the start of a new era …  
*  
Donghae returned to his room after long meeting with his advisors. He had removed half of the old advisors in exchange of new people eager to prove their loyalties. They were mostly his allies that had proved their worth.

His new council of advisors voiced out that although the Emperor was a skilled combatant and a genius mastermind in battle, there were too much risks to be taken for him to go to actual wars. There was no guarantee that similar case might happen again in the future and the stake of the whole Empire was in jeopardy.

So after a long and hard discussion, it was decided that Lord General Cho Kyuhyun would manage the matters, he would report directly to the Emperor regarding the pirates and rebellions matters.

Despite not liking the decision, Prince Sungmin accepted the decision grudgingly. He didn’t like the fact that his lover would be away battling pirates and rebellions all over the Empire throughout the year.

Another thing that the pressure from the council for the Emperor to find a new Queen, which Donghae greatly opposed. Despite being an Emperor and had the freedom to do what he wanted, which implied that he didn’t have to be faithful to his new wife if he wanted to, Donghae didn’t want to be like his father. He loved Eunhyuk, and since Eunhyuk would never be a Queen, then he shall not have a Queen.

The decision was not debatable, and since they had to consider the sake of the Empire first, getting rid of the corrupt nobles brought in by former Queen and her father for a start, the matter was held off for the time being.

There would be a lot of work to be done for the sake of the Empire.

Donghae found Eunhyuk was fast asleep in his bed, Bada was curled protectively around Eunhyuk’s body.

Eunhyuk had gone bored staying alone in the Emperor’s private chamber. He didn’t like being followed by the guards and curious eyes always followed him whenever he went out. With Lady Cho still recovering in her home, Eunhyuk spent most of his days reading or playing with Bada. Donghae decided to take Eunhyuk out of the Palace one day when winter was over. 

Bada raised his head at Donghae’s presence, but as he recognized his master, he put his head on Eunhyuk’s body and closed his eyes again.

Donghae didn’t mean to wake his lover, however Eunhyuk opened his eyes and yawned, smiling at the sight of Donghae.

“You’re back”, he said, his voice rough from sleep, Eunhyuk rubbed his eyes and sat up. The hem of the white shirt he was wearing fell off his shoulder, painting a sensual scene without Eunhyuk even realizing it.

“Go back to sleep”, Donghae replied as he climbed to the bed.

“”How was your day?” Eunhyuk asked, crawling closer to Donghae.

“Busy”, the Emperor answered, “And I miss you so much”, he put his arms around the younger man.

“I miss you too, Donghae”, there was sincerity on Eunhyuk’s tone.

Donghae initiated the kiss, the moment their mouth touched, he could feel Eunhyuk’s sweetness. He tasted Eunhyuk’s mouth eagerly and Eunhyuk opened up for him, letting him explore deeper.

A light growl was heard and Bada’s large head pushed Eunhyuk away from Donghae, ending their kiss abruptly.

“Your cat is jealous”, Donghae chuckled.

Hyukjae laughed at Bada’s antic, the large tiger rubbed his head against Hyukjae’s body like a cat, pushing Hyukjae to fall backward on the bed, away from Donghae’s reach.

Before Donghae could move closer to Hyukjae, Bada hovered above Hyukjae’s body, shielding the younger man from Donghae.

“What are you doing? Do you think he’s your mate?!” Donghae pretended to look upset at the tiger.

Hyukjae tried to get up, but the tiger pinned him down on the bed with one large paw.

“You’ve had him for the whole day, now it’s my time to be with Hyukjae!”

Hyukjae struggled from Bada’s hold, it seemed like the tiger was so used to be with him the whole day without Donghae around that he started to think that Hyukjae was his own personal toy. Hyukjae thought, he didn’t know which one was better, being the Emperor’s toy (as what those nobles said behind his back) or being the tiger’s toy.

“Bada, come”, Hyukjae sat up, he took Bada by his collar and pulled the large beast away from the bed.

Despite being large and could break free from Hyukjae’s hold, Bada followed Hyukjae, who took him to the adjacent room, “Be a good boy and stay here for the night”, Donghae heard Hyukjae talked to the tiger, before closing the door.

The moment Hyukjae returned to the bed, Donghae tackled and pinned him on the mattress.

The younger man’s laugh was like a music to the Emperor’s ears.

“Why Your Majesty, you are more fearsome than Bada”, Hyukjae exclaimed, his soft voice was soothing Donghae’s ego.

“Am I?”

“Yes Your Majesty, you are the most handsome and strong, and yet you are gentle and loving”, Hyukjae continued, his hand, soft and gentle, caressed Donghae’s cheek, before pulling Donghae for a kiss.

The kiss deepened, and Donghae’s desire quickly took over his action. His hands roamed all over Eunhyuk’s snow-white skin, removing Eunhyuk’s flimsy sleeping attire. Eunhyuk’s hands followed his lead and removing Donghae’s clothes with clumsy fingers.

It didn’t take long for Donghae to find Eunhyuk naked and panting on the bed, the Emperor threw his shirt to a random corner of the room and marveled at the erotic sight.

Eunhyuk’s skin seemed to glow under the soft glow of the lamp, his face flushed from the needs, lower lip caught between his teeth in anticipation what to come next. His nude body was a work of art, the Emperor didn’t think he’d seen anything more beautiful.

“Don’t look at me like that”, Eunhyuk tried to cover himself.

“Why?” Donghae caught one of Eunhyuk’s leg by the ankle, “You are so beautiful, Eunhyuk-ah”, he trailed kisses from Eunhyuk’s ankle up to his calf, biting the supple flesh at the back of Eunhyuk’s knee, causing the younger man to yelp a little.

Fingers tracing the faint scar on Eunhyuk’s thigh, a reminder of Eunhyuk’s past, going up and reaching the place where Eunhyuk’s body connected with his legs. Donghae placed a kiss there, making Eunhyuk gasped.

He knew all of Eunhyuk’s sensitive spots, Donghae spent his time tracing Eunhyuk’s skin, kissing and nibbling, pulling gasps and soft moans from Eunhyuk’s mouth.

He finally found Eunhyuk’s arousal, the organ was half hard after his ministration. Curiously, Donghae licked the head, causing Eunhyuk to let out a loud gasp.

“No … Don’t … ah … it’s dirty…!” Eunhyuk was torn between pushing Donghae away or enjoying the strange pleasure he never experienced before.

“Every part of you is beautiful Hyuk”.

And that was the last thing Eunhyuk heard before the hot wet cavern engulfed his organ.

Donghae had experienced oral sex from one of his past lovers, he had witnessed Sungmin giving Kyuhyun a blowjob, although he could swear it was purely accidental, but he had never actually give a blowjob before.

However, judging from the way Eunhyuk was moaning and trashing under him, he seemed to be doing a good job.

Eunhyuk couldn’t think, the feeling of his lover’s slick and soft tongue caressing the head of his sensitive erection, down to the his shaft, before Donghae engulfed his whole organ, was driving him insane. His fingers clutched the bed sheets tightly as the pleasure escalated, his toes curled and uncurled tightly.

As Eunhyuk’s member signaling his orgasm approaching, Donghae pulled away, the Emperor took a while to watch Eunhyuk’s flustered face as he gasped for air, his organ stood fully erect, red and wet between his spread legs. Underneath, his pink furled entrance twitching, begging to be filled.

Donghae removed his pants and took out the pot of oil to prepare Eunhyuk.

A soft moan escaped Eunhyuk’s lips as Donghae’s fingered his opening, Eunhyuk’s body was always honest, despite Eunhyuk’s shy nature, his body always gave out the pleasure he was feeling. And Donghae was proud to say that all of Eunhyuk was his to claim.

Eunhyuk raised his leg as Donghae’s slick finger slipped into him, spreading him gently for what to come. Another finger followed and Eunhyuk spread his legs wider.

“Nnn … ngh … ahh ...”

Donghae smiled and teased the spot that caused his Eunhyuk to moan louder, the more he put pressure against the gland, the more Eunhyuk moaned and gasped, trying not to give in to the pleasure.

“Pl-please … Hae … I’m almost … there”, Eunhyuk gasped.

Since it had been a while since they made love, Eunhyuk was more sensitive and needy, not wanting his Eunhyuk to come alone, Donghae decided to be quick. He oiled his hard member and positioned himself for penetration, as he slowly filled Eunhyuk, kissing Eunhyuk’s lips, Donghae stole the sinful sounds his Eunhyuk made as his shaft breached into Eunhyuk’s inviting body.

Eunhyuk didn’t need a long time to get used to Donghae’s member inside him, he urged his lover to move, snaking his legs behind Donghae’s body for deeper penetration.

Feeling Eunhyuk’s hands grasping his body, welcoming him to ravage the younger man, Donghae could not hold it anymore.

The air around them was filled with passion, Donghae dominated their love making, his arousal stabbing Eunhyuk repeatedly. The younger man raised his hip to meet Donghae’s movements, begging for more wantonly. They shared heated kisses and intimate touches the whole time.

At one point, Eunhyuk could feel Donghae’s organ twitched inside him, he intentionally tightened his inner muscles and Donghae lost it, spilling hot seed inside Eunhyuk. The feeling of Donghae coming inside him pushed Eunhyuk to the brink, he too, reached his orgasm.

Eunhyuk was breathless when Donghae disengaged their bodies. Donghae laid next to Eunhyuk, resting after their intense love making.

He thought Eunhyuk was asleep, so he was surprised to hear Eunhyuk’s words.

“You are my master, my lover, my lord … I love you more than I love my life, in this life and the next, my heart and my life are yours, I love you Donghae”.

Donghae held Eunhyuk’s hand, he kissed the pale knuckle, a smile on his face.

“And I love you too, Eunhyuk, my jewel, my love … forever”.

END

Notes: Good? Bad? This is the last chapter of the story! There will be an Epilogue coming but this is the end! Since I had several deadlines to finish (work related) so I haven't got the chance to write as much as I wanted, it's kinda hard to keep the mood and 15 minutes later something came up, it's hard to gather the mood after being disturbed -_- I hope this chapter is okay because it seems like 101 random things disturbed me while I was writing this chapter!


	9. EPILOGUE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And they live happily ever after

“… Eunhyuk died eight years later, he was around twenty five or twenty six years old when he died, it was highly suspected that he died unnaturally, Emperor Donghae never recovered from losing the love of his life, and despite marrying Princess Irene two years later, it was believed that he did it out of the obligation”.

“Princess Irene bore the Emperor four children, three sons and a daughter, one of them was Prince Jeno, who became his successor, but his love for Eunhyuk remained”

“Emperor Donghae ruled for 37 years before he died, he laid the foundation of the modern statesmanship we all know today, when his tomb was re-opened in the 1960’s, archeologists found the sentence carved on his tomb: In this life and the next, I swear to you, my heart is always yours … many historians believe that it was not for his young wife but for the love of his life, Eunhyuk”.

“Emperor Jeno made sure to erase Eunhyuk’s existence, most likely due to his mother’s influence, however, in 1980’s an unmarked tomb was found, it had the remains of a young man and a tiger”.

“No names or identifications can be found on the tomb, the only thing that was left on the tomb was a sentence: “In this life and the next, I swear to you, my heart and my life are yours, my Master, my Lord, my Lover”.

The professor ended the class after a session of questions, as soon as the class was dismissed and the students left the classroom, Spencer stood up and approached the professor.

“This class is for the first year, Spencer”, the professor said.

Spencer smiled sheepishly, “I know, I just enjoy your lecture about Eunhyuk and the Emperor”.

“Still obsessed with the old love story, huh?” Professor Cho teased him, “How is your dissertation?”

“I’ll be seeing Professor Kim on Monday, I think I’m making good progress”, Spencer replied, “I’m sure I can finish before the end of this semester”.

“How is Aiden doing?”

“He’s been busy the past few weeks, he’s been sleeping during the day and works at night like an owl”, Spencer helped the professor to gather his books, “Here you go, I hope you don’t mind if I drop by in your class again next semester”.

Professor Cho laughed, “Do you know that they have finally restored some paintings of Eunhyuk at the museum recently? I heard they’re going to open an exhibit soon”.

“Really?” Spencer’s eyes widened in excitement, “I better go check it out!”

“I also heard that a TV station is going to make a drama based on Eunhyuk’s story”.

“I don’t know about that … a drama might turn out to be disappointing for die hard fans like me”, Spencer replied with a grin.

They chatted a little more until they reached the exit. Professor Cho went to his car while Spencer went to the train station.

At the age of 25, Spencer Lee decided to take his Master degree in Anthropology. Despite his family’s questions, he was always interested in period history and the moment he learned about Eunhyuk and the Emperor, he became obsessed like a fan girl chasing her favorite idols.

Even as time went on, his obsession didn’t change, he even wrote his dissertation about Eunhyuk and Emperor Donghae.

Spencer stopped at a deli to grab some dinner for himself and his boyfriend, Avocado and Chicken Breast Sandwich for Aiden and Bulgogi Burger for himself … He even ordered some salad for Aiden, knowing his boyfriend would complain for the lack of vegetables in their dinner.

After paying for the food, Spencer crossed the street and stopped at a pet shop to get some cat food.

He met Aiden Lee two years a go, when he applied for his Master degree at the University. Aiden was a music producer who just started his career when they first met, now Aiden’s career was rising as the debut album of a girl group he produced gained a huge success.

Their relationship didn’t start smoothly, Aiden was engaged to a girl when they first met, but there seemed to be some kind of magnetic pull between the two of them, even when Spencer decided to break up with Aiden, his heart was in deep pain at the thought of losing the man he just met weeks before. On the other hand, Aiden decided to end his engagement with his girlfriend and chased Spencer to his hometown, begging Spencer to be with him.

People said it was lust at the first sight, but they realized it was more than that. Two years later, they were still together and their love seemed to grow stronger.

What if they were destined to be together? Spencer thought about it. He never had a serious relationship, unlike Aiden who always expressed his emotions and feelings freely, he was more of an introvert. He often thought about the romance of the Emperor Donghae and Eunhyuk and imagined if they felt the same way as he and Aiden did.

Spencer entered the apartment building and flashed the key card on the elevator sensor. He saw their nosy neighbor, Mrs Kim, she was the source of all gossips in this building, Spencer prayed that she wouldn’t notice him. He was lucky, the elevator door opened before she realized he was there.

It was 6 PM, Aiden should be awake by now … Spencer reached the 12th floor and went to his and Aiden’s apartment. They’d been living together for almost a year and six months a go they adopted a cat together.

A Bengal cat welcomed Spencer as he entered the apartment, she purred and rubbed her body on Spencer’s legs affectionately.

“How are you doing, Frieda?” Spencer rubbed her head as he put down his shopping bags, “Is Aiden sleeping the whole day and forgot to play with you again?”

When they decided to adopt the cat, they threw a coin to decide who should name the cat. Aiden won and now the cat was named after his favorite painter.

“Aiden is awake and played with his favorite cat until said cat got bored and decided to wait for Mommy to come home”, came a reply from the living room. Aiden was there, checking his tablet, some notes were scattered on the coffee table along with a cup of Americano.

Spencer laughed, he opened a canned cat food and placed it on the cat bowl, calling Frieda to eat her dinner. Spencer took out the burger and sandwich he bought and put them on the dining table.

“I got you dinner”, he said, “Avocado and Chicken Breast Sandwich with salad from the Deli across the train station”.

“You know what I like best babe”, Aiden came to the dining table and gave his boyfriend a kiss.

They had dinner together, Spencer telling Aiden about his day and asked about Aiden’s plan for the night.

“I have to work late again tonight, the boys had to record a reality show in the afternoon so they switch the schedule”, Aiden told Spencer.

“Boys? I thought you’re producing a girl group?”

“I decided to take another project”, Aiden said, “The girl group’s project is going to wrap up in a week or two, so I better start a new project”.

Spencer gave him a disapproving look, “You really shouldn’t push yourself like that, you’ve been working all night and sleeping all day, Mrs Kim actually took pity on me, she thought I’m your sugar daddy and you’re the ungrateful sugar baby who spends my money partying all night and sleeping all day”.

This time Aiden laughed.

“Maybe if you start dressing up according to your age and not like a boring nerd, she’d see that you’re actually my sugar baby”, he winked naughtily, “Or should we invite her to see how you’re like in bed?”

“I’m working on my Master degree and I’m a teacher assistant, I can’t show up at work looking like a delinquent!” Spencer pouted.

They finished dinner as they continued to tease each other and Aiden cleaned up after them.

“Thank you for dinner, Sugar Mommy”.

He earned a slap from Spencer for that.

Aiden washed the dishes and threw the garbage out, he looked around the kitchen and their dining room to make sure he had everything cleaned up and then went to find his boyfriend.

Aiden found Spencer playing with Frieda, he dove to the sofa behind Spencer and hugged his boyfriend from behind, placing a kiss on Spencer’s neck.

“Look what she did when you were not home”, Aiden rolled his sleeve, showing a long scratch on his arm, “She scratched me when I told her not to scratch the sofa!”

“You should tell her that gently, don’t scold her, she hates it when she’s being scolded”, Spencer replied, “And you shouldn’t do that, young lady, you know you have your toys to play with and we also got you that fancy scratching post!” he bopped the cat’s nose with his finger.

Frieda caught his finger and began to nibble on it, she played with Spencer’s hand and stretched. Spencer threw her a ball across the room and she went after it.

“She’s always so cute when she’s with you, when she’s with me she turns into a monster”, Aiden complained, “Look what she did to the sofa!” Aiden showed the shredded marks on the sofa’s side.

“Really?” Spencer gave him a disbelief look. Aiden nodded, pretended to look sad, but Frieda returned and put the ball on Spencer’s palm and snuggled cutely at him. Spencer threw it again and the cat chased the ball, “That’s why you have to play with her so she won’t get lonely”.

“How come she gets lonely when she has all those toys!”

Spencer only chuckled at Aiden’s exclamation.

“By the way … I wanted to tell you something”, Aiden was about to say what he wanted to tell Spencer when Frieda returned, she brought her ball and curled on Spencer’s lap, playing with the ball.

“I really regret having you around, you know”, Aiden told the cat on Spencer’s lap, she gave Aiden a glare as if she understood what he said.

“Don’t say that you’re making her uncomfortable”, Spencer leaned back against Aiden, “What did you want to tell me?”

“This”, Aiden took Spencer’s hand and placed a ring on Spencer’s finger, “I love you Spencer”.

Spencer frowned, he looked at the ring on his finger, it was white gold with a small blue sapphire embedded on it. He pulled the ring from his finger and found a sentence engraved on the inside of the ring.

“In this life and the next, I swear to you, my heart is always yours”.

It was sweet, Aiden was everything he could ever dream of. But this was not what Spencer was hoping.

“You know I don’t do engagement, Aiden”, Spencer said seriously.

The rational part of Spencer’s mind was worried that Aiden would leave him one day. Aiden left Jessica after they were engaged for almost two years and dated him. What if they got engaged and Aiden decided to leave him? Spencer knew he would not survive the heartbreak. Why can’t they just leave things as they were now? They were both happy, right?

“I know, that’s why it’s not an engagement”, Aiden seemed to read his thoughts, he took Spencer’s hand and slid the ring back on Spencer’s long finger, “Let’s call this a promise ring … with this ring, I promise to marry you in less than six months time”.

“How could you be so sure?”

“Well … I’m planning to meet your parents and ask their permission to marry you by the end of this week, I have talked to my mom and brother a couple of days a go and they think I should give you a chance to finish your dissertation before getting married”.

“You’re missing one small detail in all your plans”, Spencer reminded his boyfriend, his tone serious.

“And what is that?”

“You’re supposed to ask me if I want to marry you first, idiot”.

Aiden chuckled, but he couldn’t hide his nervousness, “You’ll say yes, right?”

Spencer pouted, refusing to answer. Aiden caught Spencer’s plump lips for a sweet kiss. It tasted like bulgogi sauce and avocado.

“I know you’ll say yes”, Aiden said smugly, as their kiss ended.

Frieda gave an annoyed mewl as Spencer was not giving her the attention she wanted. Unfortunately, this time she was ignored by Spencer and Aiden.

“I haven’t said anything!” Spencer huffed, but he knew he’d say yes to the other man.

“I still have two more hours before I have to be at the studio”, Aiden sat up, he pulled Spencer up and pushed the annoyed Frieda away from Spencer’s lap, “Let’s have an engagement sex before I have to go!”

“You said it’s not an engagement!” Spencer yelped as Aiden carried him bridal style to their bedroom. Before Frieda could follow them to the bedroom, Aiden kicked the door closed.

Soon there were moans and dirty talks coming from their bedroom.

END!


End file.
